High in Calcium
by Inuki Ookami
Summary: Seto Kaiba x Joey Yaoi Shounenai: Joey and Seto get into yet another fight, and things turn a bit weird. Can they find a way to get along, and admit their feelings for each other? All jampacked in with a smidgen of action and a fair bit of angst.
1. Part I Prologue: Nutritional Information

**High in Calcium**

**Published:** 15th Mayl 2003   
**Pairings:** Seto x Joey  
**Disclaimers: **Yu-Gi-Oh obviously isn't mine, but this fanfiction is. The poem at the beginning of each chapter/section was written by me, based off another poem. The story will be split into two "parts", each containing a good five or six chapters a piece. So expect about thirteen chapters in all, if I ever finish this.  
**Archive?** What? You're serious? Sure! Just tell me first! ^^  
**Summary:** You usual Seto x Joey fanfic, with my own twist- 'cause I can't bear the general abusive parent, school project, seto takes care of joey, they fall in love, yaddah yaddah crap- even though I love it, it's just too stereotypical for me. ^_^  
  
**Special Contest**: I'm going to write a fanfiction or do a fanart oekaki for the first person who can correctly identify where I get my chapter titles / section titles from (also where the title of the story comes from), but you'll have to be specific as to what type of a thing it is, and what variation. I'll give the answer at the end of the very last chapter when I finish the story- if nobody figures it out. If ya do just e-mail me or throw up your answer on the "review" section. I'll do a fanart or fanfiction for whatever you request- any genre of things, real stuff, anime, et cetera, and any plot ya want, or any coupling, or whatever. I'm pretty open as long as I sorta know the series. ^_^  
  
**Other notes:** You'll notice how tired I am of the "drunken father" excuse. I try to combat it with an equally abusive father; except he's sober. I'm sick and tired of reading fanfiction that improperly portray drunk fathers and have Seto "storm in" and beat the crap out of the father- or shielding Joey from the abusive, drunken parent. As much as I do enjoy reading a good drunken father fanfiction once in a while, writing one is just not for me. And there are already too many out there. Time to start a new trend! Yay for strict abusive fathers! ;;; Originally I was going to make his father really nice just to protest all the abusive drunk father ones, but there's gotta be *some* angst! ^_^  
  
Anything else I want to say before you head bravely onward? I wrote this reallly quickly, and only because I've been getting a little obsessed the last week with this pairing- I'm not quite sure why, but they're just so... kawaii together. ^^;; Anyway, don't expect this to be up to my normal level of fanfiction writing.. for one thing, it is only my second real "fanfiction" ever, plus it was written super quickly. If I ever get more time to work on the other chapters in the future, I'll try and do a better job with them, promise. Happy reading! Enjoy! ^_-  
  


**Part 1: Nutritional Information  
(Prologue) **

_I know that wherever I go you will follow,  
Obediently, like a lost puppy searching for it's way  
And when you catch up to me you jump at me  
Bounding into your owner's arms gleefully._

  
He told me they couldn't stay together any longer. He couldn't look her in the eye honestly anymore. I was probably too young to really know exactly what was going on at the time, but I did get the general gist of it. At least they were honest about it. They argued in front of me instead of hiding their feelings for my sake until I was in bed like most parents do. At least they were open with me about their divorce. At least they didn't make me or my sister out to be a "problem" when they separated. I think they actually had problems over custody. My mother fought very hard for me, because she felt she could do a better job parenting both my sister and I... but she barely had enough money for herself as it was, and she would have to get a job, which would keep her too busy to take care of two kids. I must have only been ten at the time. My sister was even younger. I didn't dislike my father, but after the divorce he grew more demanding of me, and a bit abusive.

Okay, not a bit abusive. Quite abusive. Our relationship got worse and worse as years passed. We grew more distant progressively. As long as I was good he left me totally alone, but the second I did something wrong I knew there was no point in hiding or trying to run. I knew it wasn't my fault. I knew it wasn't his fault. It was just a problem- a phase he was going through. Something I had hopped would sort of dwindle out- I was hoping he would come to his sanity, maybe find a girlfriend or a wife. He never did. I think he missed her too much. I had suspicions as I got a bit older that the reason my parents split up was because my father had an affair- and now, now that he was divorced... he couldn't bare to look at another woman the same way he had looked at my mother.

A few months after the divorce, after mom had moved out, once everything was settling back to normal my dad decided to disrupt our life again. My life. He told me one day he had decided that we were moving. And that was that. There was no sense arguing with him. Once he had something like that set in his mind, there was no changing it. I didn't even bother to try, I just hoped he would come to his senses. He didn't. He also didn't care that I was leaving behind my friends. Or my school. Or my life altogether. I'd have to start all over again somewhere new. Then again, I wasn't complaining that much, since the divorce I'd been a bit weird around my old friends. And so it was that my father and I moved out of one city, and into another. A new house, a new life- a chance to start over?

It was almost a few years later on the day that I got my Math test back that I knew I was in real trouble. My math teacher was seriously out to get me. She had never liked me. Assigning us a test that was ridiculous and unfair was just one of those cheap tricks she'd pull on us. I sighed as my eyes scanned the test. Another fail. God, my dad was going to kill me for this one.

I winced as I thought of what he would do to me when he saw the mark. And I knew he would look. He was strict, and prying. Most parents turn to alcohol in the sort of situation of divorce and loneliness (and maybe even extreme guilt as well), but not my dad. Instead he turned to authoritarianism. He became cruel, demanding, and rigid. I had a curfew suddenly, and there were rules about how long I spent with my friends, how my work was to be done, and how my life was to be spent. Any disobedience and I got beaten.

"Heya Joey! How'd you do on your examination?" Yugi asked me, coming up with his test. He had those innocent eyes and a big smile on his face. Obviously he had done well, especially since he always got high marks in all his classes. He was a hard worker, and also probably one of my best friends, with the exception of Tristan. We compare our tests, and he offered to even help me out after school, but, remembering my father lurking at home suspicious of me and my friends, I decided otherwise, though I remembered to thank him for the suggestion anyway. 

After school, and after dropping some books off at my locker, I headed toward the front of the school, carefully stepping down the inner steps, opening the door and sliding my lithe form through, finally emerging into the bright sunshine. It was a beautiful day, and I had to raise my hand to shield the burning sun's rays from blinding my vision. There I saw a particular figure strutting from another exit of the school building toward a limo, its glossy coat shining in the sunshine. Amid stride he turned to view the school, as if searching for something. He was waiting for something... or someone. His trench coat billowed in the warm summer wind. Suddenly his eyes narrowed as he caught site of me. I was almost in front of him by the time I reached the front of the school. He sneered at me. I guess he found what he was looking for.

"Walking home, huh, you pathetic loser?" he chuckled sinisterly. I glared at him, trying to ignore his hurtful words. He didn't have to make such a big deal out of me being poor. He didn't have to constantly remind everyone of how incredibly wealthy he was. The bastard. I often tried my best to ignore his harsh, cold tongue, but those deceitful lies, twisted into truths bit and stung at me no matter which way I tried to turn to get away from them. There was no release.

"Yeah, well, at least I'm not lazy and ugly like you." I sneered back at him trying to think up something quickly. I knew my insults were lame, but he still replied to them- so maybe I did get some kind of a rise from him, after all. Besides, even if I didn't have the brains to back it up all the time, the intent was there- and I was getting angry. He snarled, moving forward, as if to intimidate me. The darker-haired teen was taller than me by a good few inches, and I can't lie; I was pretty scared of him just like everyone else in the school. Maybe I was just too dumb to realize what kind of danger I was in, standing up to him. It was sort of amazing that he hadn't mopped the floor with me, so to speak.

"You're just a snivelling dog, Wheeler! Go cower in the corner with your stupid friends!" he growled back at me, raising a fist. He usually wasn't quick to anger, instead he seemed to rely heavily on sounding cool and calm, and his voice dripped with sarcasm. Every time I heard that smug voice of his I wanted to punch him right in the face, but held myself back. For one thing Kaiba was rich. When I say rich, I mean rich. I mean, he was the CEO of a company named after his family! And he was only my age! How someone like him got a job like that at such a young age I'll never know.

"At least I have friends! Nobody even likes you!" I sneered, raising a fist at my enemy and rival. His icy cold eyes stared into mine- cold, emotionless. What a bastard. Sure, I was quick to react, but he deserved to be taught a lesson. I mean, he was asking for it; it was about time someone knocked him down off his high horse. He wasn't any better than us, even if he thought he was, just because he owned some fancy shmancy company and walked around in trench coats with his metal briefcase and laptop all day.

"Come on, Joey, he's not even worth it." Yugi said, coming up behind me, and putting a hand on my shoulder. He tried to pull me away from the teen I was arguing with, but I just ignored him. Yugi always tried to break up our fights; did I mention how frequently Kaiba and I fought?

"Yeah, listen to your stupid friends, mutt. Otherwise, you're just going to get hurt by me." He sneered, boastfully, shooing me away with a hand as if I were of little importance. My anger heightened, and I was infuriated at his smart-alecky insults and that stupid proud facial expression he always wore; hung across his face like a stupid sadistic clown. Even my often aloof ignorance was better than his sneers and argumentative words.

"Why you... I'm no mutt! I aught ta show you!" I glared at him menacingly. He didn't seem to care. The tension between us rose, and we both seemed to lean in quite close. I could feel Yugi's tug on my arm strengthen, as he tried to drag me away from the entire situation. I think the two of us had begun to catch a few people's attention; you know how high school kids can be, unable to resist watching a good fight. Not that Kaiba and I had ever gotten too serious in our fights. I think he'd given me a black eye once, but I gave him a bloody lip one time, so we were even. I wasn't usually one to resort to physical violence as much as I used to, since Yugi's effect on me. The sweet, innocent, big-eyed kid had instilled some morals in me when we made a friendship pact a while back.

"Go ahead, if you think you can muster any strength, you pathetic animal." He laughed, mockingly. I released a low snarl from deep within my throat, when a long blonde bang of hair fell across my face, nearly blinding me. I tried to blow it out of the way, but it refused to move.

"Having trouble with your own ratty hair? You're not even worth my time." Kaiba mocked me, turned his back and moving away slowly. I was confused at first, since I really thought he was going to fight me, but then grew even angrier. Rage took hold of me, and I seethed, angrily.

"Come back here and face me like a man, bastard!" I shouted, as he opened the door to his ride, and began to sit in the back seat. He mustn't have been expecting it from me, but I managed to tear Yugi off of myself, and lunged at Kaiba's retreating form. Nobody turned their back on me! He would soon learn that lesson. As I tackled him inside the car, I caught him unexpectedly. He obviously didn't think I was going to come after him in the manner in which I did, but I was seeing red at the time.

We struggled for quite a bit, and it seemed like I had the upper hand since the start, tackling him to the seats, and getting in a few good punches, he reached for a door, but I leaned over him and clicked it locked. The helpless driver sat in the front unmoving, awaiting an order, I guessed. How he could let his own employer be beaten I wasn't quite sure. Maybe he was under orders not to do anything? It seemed a bit strange to say the least, but I was so caught up in the heat of the fight that it seemed hard t notice at the time.

Suddenly the tables had turned, and Kaiba had me pinned down, his shorter brown hair hanging down across his face as a devious smile marked it. Now it was my turn to reach for the door desperately, but it was locked. I heard Yugi call my name, desperately, and even saw him and some of my other friends run up to the vehicle and began pounding on it, hearing my yelps. Kaiba had me pinned down, and all I could do was struggle and protest vulgarly. He pulled his attention away from me for a split second, looked up at the driver, and with a single hand an vocal command, signalled the man in the front seat to "drive". Then the brown-haired boy turned his attention back to me. Shit. I was cornered, pinned down, and there was no one to stop him from beating me senseless.

"Let me go, you asshole!" I screamed at him, struggling even more. He had me totally pinned down with his arms and his body lengthwise across the seats, effectively sprawled on top of mine own.

"Never speak to me like that, dog!" He said coldly, raising a hand. I expected a punch, but only got a slight smack across the face. I hadn't even noticed as the vehicle had begun to move. Yugi had been pounding really loudly, but was unable to chase the vehicle when it started moving with a venomous lurch.

I tried to scream something after he smacked me, but he used his free hand to cover my mouth. I struggled and squirmed even more furiously, but he only continued to hold me down with enough force to keep me quiet and down, but seemingly not enough to actually hurt me. Finally I calmed down- or rather, ran out of screams and writhing. Growing desperate, I tried to bite his hand, but somehow my teeth wouldn't bite down, and I just ended up licking his hand.

He sat there for a second, then blinked, pulling his hand away.

"Eww!' He said finally, looking at the wet hand. Yeah, well... he deserved it for trying to cover my mouth! I waited for him to hit me, but the blow never came. I felt really hot, inside the small cushioned compartment of the vehicle, his warm body on mine. I wanted him off of me. I wanted to be free. Why had I been so stupid as to let my anger get the best of me? How had I been stupid enough to let him lure me to... where ever it was that we were going so he could beat me up and throw me back on the street barely alive. That's what I assumed he was going to do, after all, since he hadn't started hitting me yet.

"You let me go this second, or I'm going to kick your ass!" I snarled at him. He laughed. I guess I could see why; in the position we were in there wasn't much good in me threatening him. He had me under his fingers. I was under his power. Oh god. How did I let this happen? I should have just kept my mouth shut. I should have walked away. I should have ignored his sarcasm and his disgusting glare. He had been looking for me, and he had found me. It was my own fault that I got involved in his tangled web of trouble.

"Shut your trap, mutt!" He said finally, echoing my own thoughts, except in a much ruder tone. He was right, though. If I'd just kept my mouth shut all along nothing like it would have occurred. This time I figured it was too late. What could one more insult hurt? Besides, things could still turn around for me- one could never know. One moment he might have me in his clutch, the next I might have his bare throat under my hands.

"Make me, bitch!" I glared up at him, defiantly. I wasn't broken yet. His expression changed from emotionless and cold to mocking. The jerk. The emotionless jerk. No, wait. I take it back. He wasn't emotionless- he definitely showed one emotion. If sarcasm counts as an emotion. On hatred. Oh, he definitely hated me. If it wasn't easy enough to tell from his insults, then his body language made it quite clear.

"Ha ha! That's rich. I thought I told you not to be profane. Don't make me hit you." He smirked, that upturned evil smile, which only a true villain could wear. I began to squirm again, and he leaned down, so that I could fee his ragged breath on my skin. A bang of his soft silky hair hung down, touching my face. He was in my face, and all I could see was him- those cold eyes, that horrible face I just couldn't wrench my eyes from. Oh, god.

"I want to hear you scream it, mutt." He whispered in a raspy, throaty voice that was a combination of evil and hatred and sarcasm all rolled into one. I tried to close my eyes, but felt that I was mesmerized by his gaze. I was entranced and lost. Looking into those eyes of his- it was like falling into a million bottomless pits. Darkness engulfed my heart, demons tore at my mind and soul- and his hands clutched my body. I tried to sink into the leather interior of the limo, hoping to slide away in a hasty escape, but he would not let it be so. He held on firmly. Our faces were so close, and then his free hand- the one not holding my arms down, was touching me. He ran his hand along my chin, and I shuddered. He was truly sick.

"Wh-what?" I gazed up at him fearfully. I know my eyes must have grown wide and innocent just then. All my anger was dissolved. He had worn away my tarnished surface- turning me into the scared animal that I really was. I turned to shambles under his icy gaze- and yet he still continued to look at me. He still continued to fix those eyes of his upon me, forcing me to look back at him. I tried to lower my head, but his hand pulled my chin back up, until our noses almost met.

"It's no use calling for help now, Wheeler. Your friends can't hear you anymore. So scream all you like- scream that I'm your master, you filthy dog!" He snorted triumphantly, giving me that cold look once more. Finally he blinked, and the spell I felt was on me had been released. I snapped my head away, resisting his forceful hand, trying to kick my legs out from under him, squeezing my eyes tightly shut to block out that horrible smug grin of his- those cold eyes that instilled fear into me- that degraded me to nothing more than a pathetic animal in front of him.

"Never!" I managed to choke as his hand grew sadistically tender for a second, running gently through my hair. The bastard. He had me right where he wanted me- pinned down, and he was toying with me. Why couldn't he just beat me senseless and be over with it? Oh god, maybe he wanted to really torture me. Was that was this was about? Was he going to tie me somewhere and cut my flesh? I was too young for that. Would Kaiba really do that? Could he even get away with it? If he ever got caught... it'd be all over the newspapers! Then again, Kaiba was a sick bastard- there was no telling what he would do.

"Do it!" he snarled, grabbing my arm and squeezing down tightly like a clamp. I couldn't help it- I screamed out in pain. That seemed to satisfy him for the moment, and he loosened his grip as I continued to scream. I was suddenly reminded of something in our school curriculum about some girls that had screamed stuff- anything to get my mind off having Kaiba pinning me down in his limo and beating my face in- which was what I assumed he was about to do, or some other sick and twisted order of things involving pain which he was enjoy deliriously. He had what he wanted- I screamed. I screamed for him. I screamed to get him off me. To get him away from me. To get him to stop touching me. To prevent him from the inevitable beating I was sure he was going to give me. To prevent him from causing me pain- something he seemed to enjoy. That thought made a cold shiver run through my body, and my screams got louder. Eventually my screams turned to shocked sobs, and my vision blurred as I could feel what had once been anger coursing through my body- that seething rage turn to whimpers and tears of the pain I had suffered my whole life. I don't even know what happened to Kaiba or the Limo, because everything just faded out at that point, and I can't remember exactly what occurred directly after. 


	2. Part I 1: Energy

**High in Calcium**

**Published:** 15th Mayl 2003   
**Pairings:** Seto x Joey  
**Disclaimers: **Yu-Gi-Oh obviously isn't mine, but this fanfiction is.  
**Archive?** What? You're serious? Sure! Just tell me first! ^^  
**Summary:** You usual Seto x Joey fanfic, with my own twist- 'cause I can't bear the overused general stuff. ^_^;;  
  
**Special Contest**: I'm going to write a fanfiction or do a fanart oekaki for the first person who can correctly identify where I get my chapter titles / section titles from (also where the title of the story comes from), but you'll have to be specific as to what type of a thing it is, and what variation. I'll give the answer at the end of the very last chapter when I finish the story- if nobody figures it out. If ya do just e-mail me or throw up your answer on the "review" section. I'll do a fanart or fanfiction for whatever you request- any genre of things, real stuff, anime, et cetera, and any plot ya want, or any coupling, or whatever. I'm pretty open as long as I sorta know the series. ^_^  
  
Contest Updates:   
  
**niki92286:** I am getting it from a nutritional fact chart, but only from one type of food, and a specific flavour. ^_- Good try though.  
**Cairnsy:** hm. Milk *might* be the answer to every question, but in this case it isn't. o.O;; You're quite close though. I'll say, it *is* a milk product. That's all the hint-age I'm gonna give.  
  
**Other notes:** Again, another chapter I wrote way too quickly. I did it last night in like.. too little time to be comprehensible. Gome nasai, I *really* should spend more time on my fanfiction, but I just didn't have the time to. I'll try and spend more time on the next chapter. I'm really not happy with the way these chapters are shaping. They're sort of boring me. I might need to throw some action in to spice things up a bit, or something. Maybe there's just not enough angst? Or maybe there are too many things going on and not enough emotional expression for each event? If you haven't noticed, by the way, the poem part is from Seto's point of view- so you do get a little look into what his view on things are. Sort of. Other than that, I'm thinking it'll probably be a first-person dialogue from Joey's point of view. I tried to stick the accent in a teeny bit since this is more of a fanfiction of the (evil, yes I know ^^) dub. If I ever write fanfiction for the sub instead I'll probably go back to my normal fanfiction style, which involves lots of "gomen!" "arigatou!","daijoubu?", "onegai?", et cetera. I even changed stuff like "shimatta" and "bakayaro" to it's english form because I wanted to stick with a totally english-style. (Just trying to be consistent here. ^_^;;) If you like this chapter, I guess you can leave me a review telling me to keep it up, or whatever. But if you hated it, or want to see me do something in the next few chapters instead- whether with plot or writing style, for the love of all that is good, *please* don't hesitate to tell me! ^_^  
  
Wow! I want to big time thank all the people who actually spent time reviewing the prologue! It means very much to me that people enjoy what I write, even if I don't write for reviews. I really want to thank Jenniyah and Mugs for adding me as on their favourites list- and anybody else who did likewise (it probably just didn't load through yet if ya did, 'cause my computer sucks big time!), 'cause you guys totally rock!  
  
**Quotation of the Day: **"That's where you used to have to go get injected, inspected, detected, infected, neglected, and selected. And I remember I had to go in there one mornin' a long time ago for a physical examination. So I got good and drunk the night before, 'cause I wanted to feel my best when I went in that mornin'. I mean, I wanted to feel- I wanted to look- I wanted to be like the All-American kid and when I went in that mornin' I was hung down, I was brung down, I was hung up, I was all kinds of mean, nasty, ugly-looking things. I walked in. I sat down. They gimmie a piece of paper. And said "Kid, see the psychiatrist, Room 604". I went up there, I said "Shrink, I wanna kill. I I mean, I wanna kill. I wanna see blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill! Kill! KILL!" And I started jumpin' up and down yellin' "Kill! Kill!" And he started jumpin' up and down with me, and we was both jumpin' up and down yellin' "Kill! KILL! Kill! KILL! Kill!" Till the sergeant come over, pinned a medal on me, sent me down the hall said "You're our boy!" I didn't feel real good about it." - Alice's Restaurant (By Arlo Guthrie)  
  
**Responses to Reviews:**  
  
Lady Geuna, Echo, Difinity, Blue Lagoon Loon, Jenniyah, niki92286, and Delete (Hope I spelled all that right! ^_^;;): I'm really happy you all enjoyed this fanfiction so much, and here's the next chapter. I did it right away! There ya go. Hope you guys enjoy this one just as much, if not more than the last one! And yeah, nobody ever seems to make Seto sadistic enough in the stuff I read. They always have some big tragic thing happen to either Joey or Seto, and then make them change their attitudes toward each other right away- so I never get to see a sadistic Seto! Sooo.. since I was too lazy to go search for lots of fanfiction with him being all like that, I wrote one. ^__^;;  
  
Dark Hilde: I *didn't* make him look like a moron? o.O;; I kinda thought I did. For one thing, the narration isn't.. very deep- not as deep as I usually make it when I write stories. For another thing, he was pretty compulsive and stuff. Hmm. Then again, I've read some fanfiction where he's a total idiot. I just tried to stick to the story as much as I could. In my opinion Joey is nice and well-meaning, but often a bit... quick to anger. If you ask me, in the show (the dub, at least) Tristan is the real moron. Then again, it's a bit hard to tell since he never says too much. ^_^;;  
  
And finally we get to the good stuff (sorta?), the thing you've all been waiting for (after all the comments and review responses and all that stuff I have way too much fun typing!)  
  


**1.1: Energy**

_I can feel your warm and even breath,  
on my chest as you rest your head on me  
Your eyes closed, I notice your beauty as you sleep,  
Don't you know the way you make me feel?_

  
I awoke slowly to softness unmatched by any I had felt before. I was quite confused. The last thing I could remember was a fight. A tangle ensued... in a limo. Kaiba! It would have to have been his. Who else owned a limo that I knew? Slowly my groggy memories came back to me. Once I had regained my memory of what had happened before everything blacked out, I tried to clear my vision of the obscurity that hindered it. I rubbed my eyes, and let out a loud yawn, stretching gleefully. Despite the fight, I felt... good? I had obviously needed the rest. As I looked around, I could clearly see that the place was overly mature and elaborate. It was not the room of a child. It was the room of someone who just wanted to show off how rich they really were. Old European-style furnishings were organized neatly around the room, far different from most of the scattered belongings contained within my house.

I had the feeling of a smothering drowsiness from the room I was in. It was like one of those old elaborate places one could see in movies- but I had never seen anything like it in real life before. I placed a delicate finger down around my side, and it was soft to my touch. It felt like satin. I lowered my gaze, and noted that I was lying on several crimson pillows. It was the deep colour of blood. I tried to calm the shudder that ran through me at that thought.

Was I in Kaiba's mansion? That was the only reasonable explanation I could come up with, but I was still confused. Why had he trapped me in his mansion, of all places, instead of beating me and leaving me on the street? Maybe he wanted to wait until I was fully conscious to beat me into submission? I wanted to run, but the place around me was too hypnotizing. The delicately built pillars that held the frame of the building up, the extensively detailed rugs that looked hand-woven, and must have taken forever to create. A rush of envy at having so much money bursted through me, but at the same time a deep fear. With money comes great power. I always knew Kaiba was powerful, and in many more ways than one. Otherwise, how could he have always had such good Duelling Decks? How could he own his own huge company? How could he afford all that clothing, or even that laptop? It just... never hit me, exactly how much money he was. Or how powerful he was. I gulped at that thought.

What was I going to do? I had to get out. I had to flee. I couldn't let him do anything to me. If I couldn't get out I'd have to be prepared to fight him! I rushed to the door, my legs feeling surprisingly springy, and willing to move. Of course, the door was locked, as I had expected it to be. I didn't know how to pick a lock. Frantically I looked to the window, and scuttled toward it in a desperate attempt. I drew back the curtains to be disappointed. What do you know? The windows were locked as well- locks with keyholes and all. Then again, with a place like this I figured you couldn't be too careful. Unless this was Kaiba's personal torture chamber.

I frowned and shook my head at that thought. The place was too luxurious for torture- and there wasn't any blood or devices that could cause pain lying around. I was expecting him to have a dungeon with torture chambers- at least; it wouldn't have surprised me if he did have one, anyway.

I stood there for a few minutes, worrying frantically. In the movies there was always an air vent for the character in trouble to exit from! I looked up at the ceiling. No luck. Anyway, the ceiling was more than twelve feet above my head. There was no possible way I could have gotten up there. I looked around the room for some kind of vents of removable panels, but could see nothing but the bare floors, the walls covered in paintings of portraits of people, bookshelves full of sombre novels, and expensive looking ornaments hanging here and there.

I thought I heard footsteps coming down the corridor. In a hurried attempt I tried to find somewhere to hide, but other than a small desk that looked ridiculously tiny, and it would be obvious if I tried to hide under it. Even I didn't want to look like that big of an idiot. Besides, the stupider I made myself look; the more Kaiba would probably try and take advantage of my lack of intelligence. That hot-headed rat! This was all his fault!

I rushed back to the bed. Maybe if he thought I was asleep, he wouldn't try and beat me up... yet. I was in his kingdom now, his domain. All rules were thrown in the shredder, all bets were off. I didn't even have my friends to defend me or back me up in Kaiba's mansion. I curled up on the extremely illustrious bed I had awoken on. I was just beginning to realize how large and warm and comfortable it was as I laid back down on it. My bed at home was tiny in comparison to the monstrous creation that was seemingly forged by masters of their trade.

"Mokuba! Not right now! I have... *something* to take care of first!" I could hear as two pairs of footsteps grew closer. Ah, that would be Kaiba and his little brother, Mokuba. I actually didn't mind the kid so much; it was his brother I couldn't stand. Kaiba said he had "something" to deal with? That must have been me, right? What did he mean, "deal", exactly? Throwing that thought aside for the moment, his commanding parental-sounding voice reminded me of my own father. Damn! What time was it? When I looked out the window it hadn't struck me right away that it was basically sunset. My dad would probably be furious that I wasn't home on time. I doubted that my father would do anything to me in comparison to the pain that Seto Kaiba was about to inflict.

I heard the rattle of the door, and the knob slowly turning. Immediately I feigned sleep, starting long, heavy breaths, closing my eyes, and snuggling up to one of the soft, plush pillows, moving silently until I was comfortable.

Slowly I heard the door creak open. I hoped that pretending to be asleep would work. Maybe he would leave me alone until he thought I was awake. Maybe before then I could figure out a plan of escape- or someone would come rescue me. After that dramatic exit in Kaiba's limo, I was sure Yugi and my other friends would be worried when they realized I hadn't gotten home that night.

Slow, definite footsteps closed the gap of physical distance between the wooden door, etched with stunning patterns, to the bed which I rested upon silently. The footsteps stopped at the side of the bed, and I could hear the rustle of fabric. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but I was pretty sure he was moving his body.

I felt a warm breath against my cheek, and suddenly realized that Kaiba must have bent down. He was looming over me! Oh god. I nearly jumped, and if I had I would have revealed my cover, as a cool, icy touch caressed my cheek, and brushed a soft blonde bang of my hair across my face and to the side of my ear. I didn't dare to open my eyes, and tried desperately to keep my breaths steady and heavy.

Suddenly his presence was gone, and the footsteps were moving away. Thank god, I had fooled him! Now he would leave me alone for a while until I could plan an escape! Or so my simple mind thought as I heard the door creak closed, and the lock clicked. But it didn't lock behind him as he exited. It locked in front of him as he pulled the door closed. He had locked us both in together purposely, as he pocketed the key.

I viewed him nervously from the corner of my eye, which I had opened just a crack. He dragged his infamous metallic and silver briefcase over to the desk, and deposited it with a soft sigh. He clicked the suitcase unlocked, slipped out his laptop, and placed it on the desk among some paperwork. With that, he stood there for a second; staring blankly at the curtains I had drawn open.

"I'd swear these were closed... must have been a maid." He muttered, shaking his head to himself. Jeez! Good going, Joey! You moron! He nearly caught you red-handed there! And then the footsteps were coming back to the bed. I hadn't expected it. I had assumed I was in some sort of a guest room originally.

I realized that I was mistaken when he had locked us both in there, realizing his intentions. He walked toward a section of curtains I had assumed lead to the rest of the windows, but when he swept them aside, I realized it actually revealed the doorway to a bathroom. He entered into the bathroom, sweeping the curtains closed behind him.

The second I was sure that he was gone, and heard taps running, I began breathing quickly again. Oh god! What had I gotten myself into? How was I going to get away from the room? How did I plan to escape the building? Kaiba must have wanted to ensure that I didn't escape, and therefore was keeping as close to me as possible so that he could exact his revenge. I figured he must have lived by the motto "Keep you friends close, and your enemies closer." And... from what I knew of him, Kaiba's enemies sure didn't last for very long, either. Look at how he acted in school! Glaring icily at everyone, commanding power, enforcing limitless will. Practically the entire school feared him- I think even some of the teachers did. So what made me think I could stand up to him?

But he wasn't any better than some low-class bully! Just because he was smarter didn't mean he was better! With the exception of how he treated his brother, there didn't seem to be a good bone in his entire body! And there I was, stuck with the bastard. Glumly I figured I could keep up the charade of pretending to be asleep for a while, hopefully he would fall for it again- but I knew it wouldn't last forever,

The water stopped running in the next-door room, and I heard the curtains being drawn back. I immediately went back into my act of "sleeping". I didn't get a chance to look at him again. No that I really wanted to, anyway. Just being near him was creepy enough.

Suddenly the footsteps stopped on the opposite side of the bed so that he was facing my back. I must have looked quite innocent and fragile, curled up like that, comforted by the warm pillows, pulling the bed sheet up, bunching it against my skin. He released a low, sinister chuckle; one that caused me to shiver silently, no matter how hard I tried to control it. He meandered for a moment, and then I felt the entire bed lower, as a new weight was placed on it.

Suddenly a warmth was up again my back. It was him! Kaiba was actually planning on sleeping next to me? Wasn't he taking things a bit far? Sure, he might have wanted to make sure I didn't escape, but was all *this* really necessary? Not that there were any other beds in the room... maybe I was just letting my mind get carried away.

It wasn't that weird, after all. Especially not when one took into consideration that he was Seto Kaiba, after all. I had almost forgotten to consider that his mind didn't work the same way as mine. He wasn't compassionate, or sympathetic. He was nearly inhuman- and sleeping next to an enemy probably meant little to him. Heck, it wouldn't surprise me if he tried to strangle me in my sleep- except I knew that was too merciful for him. If he was going to kill me, he'd do it through torturous and endlessly painful means.

He moved to get comfortable, and ended up lying so that my head rested against his chest. He was surprisingly soft, and quite comfortable. I waited a while, hoping he would close his eyes and sleep, but he just laid there for a while. I wondered idly what he was doing. Maybe he was asleep? But he couldn't have been- nobody could sleep in a position like that. He must have been looking at something, or... thinking about something. Maybe about what he was planning on... doing with me. Ulp, bad thoughts.

Finally he moved around a bit, obviously getting comfortable. I sighed as quietly as I could, hoping he wouldn't realize I was awake. I wasn't fully alert, but I wasn't exactly asleep either. I was hoping to make a sneaky exit after a while once I was sure he had fallen asleep. If such a thing were possible, that was. I didn't know how I was going to get out of the situation, but figured that there had to be some sort of a way. That was, until the thing that occurred a second later. He had finally gotten comfortable, and seemed to be drifting off to sleep, when a pair of hands snaked around my waist. I was confused and utterly horrified at the same time. What the hell did he think he was doing?

Of course, it was I who had thought something of it. It was I who thought more of it than what it really meant. It was I who thought about it as "sleeping with Kaiba", rather than what was really going on. Why did I make it into more than it was meant to be? He was just making sure I was still around so that he could embarrass and beat me. Sure, his sadistic and limitlessly cruel attitude was showing through, but I was still making more out of it than I should have. I should have been planning an escape still, but basically realized with his arms around me that there was no real escape. He probably did it on purpose just so that I couldn't move without him knowing- the jerk. He had to be aware of me constantly. And when he wasn't fully awake or on his feet, he had to have a million traps and ways of making sure he would be obeyed.

So there I was; lying with Kaiba holding firmly onto me. It was by no means soft or gentle. He saved any gentleness that he had for torturing me- for causing the generally short moments before a punch-up to turn into extensively long periods of waiting. Waiting for the pain to come. Waiting for the blows to end. Waiting for everything to be over with. Kaiba knew what he was doing too well. Whatever had once made him like this was not of my concern, but I'm sure I wouldn't have wished it on my own worst enemy. Even if my own worst enemy *was* the dark haired youth that happened to have me locked in his mansion, firmly holding me in place, and strictly trapping me into submission. My will was not gone yet. I would find a way out. I had to!

I never really understood how Kaiba always got away with everything he did. It seemed so paradoxical to all of Yugi's speeches and truths. Yugi was never wrong! Right? Right! So then why was it that Kaiba never obeyed Yugi's theories and explanations? There never seemed to be rules that restricted Kaiba. He seemed to get away with anything he wanted. There never seemed to be anyone who competed with Kaiba that didn't result in brown-haired teen getting the last laugh. I guess the time had come for it to be my turn. With whatever Kaiba was going to do with me at stake, and my friends probably worrying... I had more than enough reasons to carry on.

But I was so tired... and, maybe, just for the moment I would rest a little while. What could it hurt? I mean, I was getting a bit tired after all. And Kaiba... he wasn't going to hurt me as long as I was asleep, he'd already proved that. And it's not like I was going to be able to go anywhere right then without instantly waking him up... maybe it wasn't such a bad thing, anyway. Staying in a mansion like the one I was in, for just a little while couldn't be too horrible. Maybe I could get Mokuba to help me out of the place. He had to have keys to all the doors as well, right? Mokuba wasn't such a bad kid... he'd let me out... yeah. That was it.

I looked slowly down at Kaiba's hand around my waist, and then turned my head slightly to peer over my shoulder at the sleep boy. My head was against his chest, and his body was warm and felt sort of... nice and comforting. Which I found strange, since that didn't seem to suit Seto Kaiba, the big bad CEO of Kaiba Corp. at all. As I inhaled, I caught a whiff of something that smelled like cinnamon and sugar. Bittersweet, eh Kaiba? Then again, that'd have been just like him. My eyes were growing heavier, and I could feel them about closing as I took one last look at the bastard that had ripped me from my daily life, and all because I'd said a few nasty things to him... well, actually, a lot of nasty things- but that wasn't the point. Oh, what was the point? I was too tired to even remember or care at that point. All my energy had been wasted, worrying and wondering. And maybe even a little pondering. All the events that seemed to be taking place totally phased me, I didn't understand what the heck was going on. But that was okay, because I was too dizzy and sleepy to bother to think about such things any more; besides, I was safe for the time being, even if all my energy had totally been drained. Soon enough I had fallen deep into a sleep.


	3. Part I 2: Protein

**High in Calcium**

**Published:** 17th May 2003   
**Pairings:** Seto x Joey  
**Disclaimers: **Yu-Gi-Oh obviously isn't mine, but this fanfiction is.  
**Archive?** What? You're serious? Sure! Just tell me first! ^^  
**Summary:** You usual Seto x Joey fanfic, with my own twist- 'cause I can't bear the overused general stuff. ^_^;; (If you wanna ignore my random rambling, just scroll down to the chapter title, that's where the story begins)  
  
**Special Contest**: I'm going to write a fanfiction or do a fanart oekaki for the first person who can correctly identify where I get my chapter titles / section titles from (also where the title of the story comes from), but you'll have to be specific as to what type of a thing it is, and what variation. I'll give the answer at the end of the very last chapter when I finish the story- if nobody figures it out. If ya do just e-mail me or throw up your answer on the "review" section. I'll do a fanart or fanfiction for whatever you request- any genre of things, real stuff, anime, et cetera, and any plot ya want, or any coupling, or whatever. I'm pretty open as long as I sorta know the series. ^_^  
  
Contest Updates:   
  
**Sweet-Innoncence: nope, not cheese, but it is a milk-product. Keep trying. ^^ **  
**ColeyCarissa:** Um. Nope. Not butter. Sorry. ^_^ Good try though.  
  
**Other notes:** Okay, so I wrote it really quickly again. Usually when I write fanfiction I proofread it and reread it like, twice at the bare minimum, then I usually print it out, and read it when lying down with a nice big pen to spell check and grammar check, et cetera; however, since people were asking for quick updates, I figured that to get new chapters up as soon as I could I only had time to reread my stuff like, once.. and I resorted to the spellcheck in Microsoft Word -_-;; So if you guys find lots of spelling / grammar errors or things that don't seem to make sense, then understand that it's because I'm trying to throw this up as quickly as I can to please all ya people. I have no problem with throwing this stuff up quickly, but if you guys feel that it compromises the quality too much, then I'm fine with taking it slower and proofreading more carefully. ^_^;;  
  
And boy do I want to thank all you people who reviewed or even just read the last two chapters. **Bow** I feel very honoured to be able to post this for people to view, and I'm so glad you all enjoyed the story so far. If you have complaints or questions or anything, feel free to drop me an e-mail or a review any time. ^_^  
  
**Quotation of the Day: **"Some of them are living an illusion, Bounded by the darkness of their minds. In their eyes it's nation against nation againsst nation, With Racial pride, Sad hearts they hide, Thinking only of themselves. They shun the light, They think they're right, Somewhere in their empty shells. Ohh, can you see their world is crashing? So many people, So many people. Crashing down around their feet, And Angry people in the street are telling them they've had their fill, Of polotics that wound and kill. Ohh, The seeds of evolution, Revolution never won, It's just another form of gun, To do again when they are done. And all our problems.. Sooo.. So many people. Everywhere you go you see them searching, Everywhere you turn you feel the pain. Everyone is looking for the answer. Well look again, Come on my friend. Love will find them in the end. Come on my friend, We've got to bend. On our knees and say a prayer. Ohh, can you feel the world is pining? So many people, Pining for someone who really cares enough to share his love, With all of us, So we can be, An ever-loving family. Have you forgotten we're all children? Children from a family tree, That's long than a centipede, That started long ago, When you and I were only love." - Lost in a Lost World (By the Moody Blues)  
  
**Responses to Reviews:**  
  
Difinity, Blue Lagoon Loon, Echo, Sweet-Innocence, Ani-Coolgirl, Anime Goddess, and ColeyCarissa: I'm so glad you guys all enjoyed this fanfic so much. I know, I don't write for the reviews- but getting such compliments encourage me immensely. I am so pleased to be able to share this with everyone, and it pleases me to no end that people enjoy my writing.  
  
Kitsune Hashiba: But... err-... but... Yugi is so smart! How can he do poorly in school? I guess it makes sense that he spends a lot of time on puzzles, but still... maybe it didn't make it clear in the dub that he gets bad grades. I really can't remember. Or is that information just in the sub or manga? o.O;; All I remember from the first episodes was Yugi Duelling, Yugi beating Kaiba with Exodia with his grandfather's deck, and Joey learning Duel monsters, and then the Tournament on TV with Rex Raptor, et cetera. Maybe my memory is just really crappy, and they did mention Yugi's gades? o.O;; Oh well. Normally I'd go back and change it, but that would mean reworking that whole scene, and I'm feeling extremely lazy. Unless a bunch of people bug me to go back and change it, I probably won't. But thanks for the heads up. ^_^  
  
Lady Geuna: You think Jou's IC? Thank you so much! **Big bow** That means so much to me. I was trying to stay fairly true to the dub.  
  
Jenniyah: Well, lots of people asked for an update, so I threw one up really quickly. ^_- Speaking of which.. here's the third one! M'whaha!  
  
Kaneda-Shotaro and Yami Tetsuo: Omigod! Someone else who loves _Akira!_ **Does the happy-_Akira-_loving-hyper-dance.. uv DoOM! ^_^;;** I love how the motorcycle's lights trail behind after they drive by! And I love the whole idea! And Neo-Tokyo is such a cool concept! And Kaneda is just.. so... **Squeal** And I love the music! Switchblade Symphony is one of my favourites! Even the name sounds cool! And.. and.. and.. did you notice how similar the precogs were in it to the kid in _Spriggan_? (If you've even seen that), they're both greenishness/bluish/grayish? o.O;; and short and small and stuff! And have lotsa power. O.O;; And.. and.. the bit where Tetsuo is on the throne in the Olympic Stadium when he has a mechanical arm with wires that shoot out all over the throne totally reminded me of that scene near the end the girl goes all like that, did it remind you of that too? ^_^;;; Ookee.. Enough random anime ranting for me.. **Shuts up**  
  
Eep. Without further rambling... the story!  


**1.2: Protein**

_You're adorable in every possible way,  
You think you are indestructible, but you're weak  
You laugh a lot, and you cry a lot,  
You're like a little child, but you're mine._  


  
I awoke with a start. I had been jabbed harshly in the side. I yelped, jumping off the bed, to my feet at the sudden pain. I looked around, glaring, to see Kaiba. There he was, that smug grin on his face, per usual. I gazed toward the light emitting through the curtain. Damn! It was day already. That meant my opportunity to escape had passed by.

When I turned back, returning my eyes to the dark-haired teen I noticed that he still had his eyes locked onto mine. He had never turned away.

"Thinking of trying to escape, Wheeler? Afraid of how hard I'm gonna hit you?" He boasted proudly, as though he were the most important part of the world. As if he was the be all and end all of life. I wasn't trying to escape anymore. I knew a fight was inevitable. My anger rushed at me all again.

"You big jerk! You think you can bully me into listening to you? Just because you've got a big mansion, an' lots of money, and like to show it off it doesn't mean that you're any better than me!" I narrowed my eyes at him, and took a stance, holding it. He raised his head and chuckled. I eased up a little for a second.

The second my defences were down, his head snapped to a level position, his eyes focusing in on me, and with that he rushed me, slamming me backward, until I flew against a wall. He stalked up to me, dragging me up as I slipped, and leaned forward, pushing me up against the wall. I wasn't caught between a rock and a hard place- I was caught between a wall and Seto Kaiba, a situation far worse.

He put his hands on either side of me, open-palmed against the wall, and leaned further inward, so that our faces were so close. His eyes narrowed, and his lips formed the words with distaste. His hate for me was so obvious. His sick obsession for wanting to cause me pain was just as bad.

"I told you before not to speak to me like that. If you value your life, I'd recommend complying with my terms." He stood there for a second, in the same position. And what exactly were his "terms", as he put it? Did I even want to know what they were? What was he planning to do to me? As that thought flashed through my mind, I began to squirm awkwardly under his gaze. Suddenly I lost my footing on the ground, and began to slip. I let out a fearful cry as I tumbled toward the ground- only to be caught and lifted back to my feet my own tormenter.

"Hn. Can't even stand up properly now? You *are* pathetic, Wheeler." He scowled at me, as I ripped myself away from his clutch on my shirt. The rotten bastard. I glowered at him and drew back in a hasty retreat.

"Well, I wouldn't have fallen if you weren't lookin' at me like that!" I snapped, loosing any patience and sense that I had. Screw morals, seeing as Kaiba was planning on beating me to a bloody pulp anyhow, it certainly didn't seem like throwing in a few insults at him could make it much worse. Might as well get them in while I still was able to talk.

"Well, if you weren't so stupid you wouldn't be in this mess. You shouldn't have opened you big dumb mouth, mutt." He sneered, stepping slowly toward me. I stepped backward as he approached me, and we moved slowly across the room in that manner.

"Well, if you weren't such a sick weird-o, who spent your life making other people's lives shit, I wouldn't have had to say nothing to ya!" I yelled back at him. I stopped back-stepping, trying to stand my ground, but he kept approaching me. It was so unnerving.

"I don't need to try to make your pathetic and puny lives shit- they already are. You hang out with a bunch of stupid losers, you waste you time loosing a card game, and you don't even get decent grades in school. What good are you, anyway? You're just a pathetic, good-for nothing animal! And you deserve to be treated like one." He exclaimed, his voice full of contempt. I must have released a soft whimper, as he reached a hand out to grab me forcefully. With that he tried to throw me to the ground, but when I resisted he stopped pulling me down, and pushed me backward instead. I totally lost my balance, grabbing at air, and fell on my back, hitting the hard wood floor with a thud. I groaned as I tried to get up, but he was there in a second, his foot holding my chest down.

"Just let me go... you cruel bastard!" I said coldly. I thought he was actually going to listen to me for a second, because he lifted his foot off of my chest- but then I realized he had done nothing except ignore me. He had soon enough replaced his foot with his body. He was basically straddling me.

I had noticed that he seemed to enjoy cornering me a lot, or pinning me. It seemed to be some sort of source of power for him. It wasn't like it was an attraction; it wasn't even some kind of sick passion. It was his weird obsession with power, and having control over things he disliked. Namely, me. Suddenly he was leaning in close, so close I could literally feel him breathing on my neck. I turned my head away, but he forced it back firmly with one hand. I let out a frustrated sigh, and he smiled viciously.

"S... Seto." I whimpered desperately, sliding my hands up his back, trying to use my last ounce of energy to push him as far away from me as possible- but he was just too powerful, and I was weak in comparison. He had his eyes closed, but suddenly they flashed open.

"What... did you say?" He was giving me a very suspicious look. I had totally collapsed- gone utterly limp. I couldn't even speak. I didn't think he had misheard me. It was basically a rhetorical question, anyway. I tried to do something- anything, but I found myself unable to do so.

"What did you call me?" His voice grew steadier- demanding. His powerful tone was returning; however, I had thrown him off balance for a second. Perhaps I was able to confuse him there? I felt so weak and tired. It wasn't meant to happen to guys like me. I'd been doing the right thing lately, right? Yugi was never wrong. Whenever I was with him we managed to overcome anything. I was the good guy, Kaiba was the bad guy! How could this jerk be winning? How could he be taking advantage of me like that?

He slid a hand softly along my chin, running his fingers with feather-light touches like daisies blowing in a gentle breeze, until they reached the middle, at which point he raised my head slightly, so that we were so close that I could smell his breath. It was an intoxicating scent, the wildness of alcohol, the sweetness of sugar, and the bitterness of ginger all twanged in my head as I felt my heartbeat speed up.

I didn't fully understand what I was feeling. It was no longer hate or anger that rushed through me- it had turned into feelings of shock, terror, and even a bit of confusion. I didn't understand why my body had frozen up to the point where I couldn't even control my speech. I couldn't figure out what he was doing to me, or why. I didn't know what was going on until it was too late.

The next moment he lowered the sleeve of the shirt I was wearing- that white one with the big blue stripe-pattern along the sleeves, so that the edge of my right shoulder was revealed. He lowered his head to the bare flesh, and suddenly I felt a soft pain- and then a soft, rich sensation.

When I managed to regain some control, I titled my head to look curiously at what he had done to me. He was lapping his delicate pink tongue against an open wound in my shoulder. A wound that he himself had inflicted with his own teeth. What was this sick joke he had up his sleeve? How could I let him do such a weird thing to me? I mean, he BIT me, for goodness sake! And then he was drinking... lapping at the wound! What the hell was wrong with him?

I tried to throw him off of me, but he had me in a position which was extremely difficult to escape from. He elicited a soft moan as I tried to move. I squeeze my eyes together and tried desperately to pry his head away with my hands. He resisted, but finally pulled his head back. I got a good look at the wound he had made- it actually wasn't very big or very deep, and his face wasn't covered in blood or anything, but I could see the faintest trace of it on his tongue. It repulsed me to no end.

"Now do you see, I can do whatever I want to you, mutt? You are under my control." He fixed his gaze upon me. With a burst of fresh energy and anguish I threw him off of me, finally. With a shocked look on his face, he tumbled to the side, as I slid my shirt back over my shoulder, and stumbled to my feet. My balance was precarious, and I stumbled for a few minutes.

Kaiba, in the meantime had leapt to his feet as well, and was steadily approaching me. All I could think was what he had done to me- what he might still do to me. I raised my fist, and swung. I guess he wasn't expecting it, because he barely even got a chance to block it. It hit him, square in the face, and he fell back down. This was my chance!

I took the opportunity to stumble clumsily toward the door, banging on it, screaming helplessly for someone to come- for anyone to rescue me. Anyone, Mokuba, a maid... but nobody came. Hideous and sinister chuckling came from the brown-haired teen as he rose to his feet, approaching me slowly, a look of lust and death in his eyes. I banged on the door, and screamed, but it was no use. Kaiba was gaining speed, and the disgusting laughter grew louder.

"Don't you see, you fool? Nobody can hear you. Nobody is ever going to save you! You are mine!" He stood in front of me, boasting. My body was racked with concealed sobs, I began quivering violently, and I collapsed to the door, shaking my head.

It couldn't be true. I wasn't his. He didn't own me! Someone come- someone had to come. My friends had to have been worried- even my dad would have noticed by then. Even if someone didn't come... I'd still escape. I had to. This was Kaiba, I was talking about. Kaiba! He couldn't have his way! He was... a big jerk!

"Please... please. Make it stop." I sobbed to the world around me out loud. This only seemed to make Kaiba even happier. A demonic grin spread across his face, and he bent over me, gripping me by the collar, and dragging me up. Pulling me to my feet so he could belittle me. So he could taunt me. So he could tease me. So he could maim me. So he could make me his... so he could claim me.

I cried for Yugi, I cried for Tristan- oh god, I think I even might have cried for my father somewhere along the lines. Even his harsh strictness was better than this. Kaiba had set his mind on demeaning me in every way possible- and all restrictions I figured he was placed under by society seemed to be gone. If he could do this to me, there was no telling what he might do next. I tried to pull away, but he was too strong.

"Then just admit that I'm better than you." He replied, standing firm. I whimpered softly, but shook my head. He wasn't better than me! And I wasn't about to lie just to save myself. My pride was beyond that- and I still had honour... and integrity. All those things that I had fought so hard for, and worked to gain. Kaiba mustn't have realized how much he was asking me to throw down the drain by accepting defeat. Kaiba was a lowlife, a real cheater. The only time he had even beaten Yugi in a duel back on Pegasus' island was because he played on Yugi's humanitarianism- he forced Yugi to give up for threat of basically suiciding. I felt much like Yugi, when it came to Kaiba. Sure, I loathed him... but I didn't want him to die. Or maybe I did. After all that he had done to me... I don't think I was willing to accept that I was under his power. I didn't want to think that way. I couldn't give up. With renewed strength I tore myself away from him, and backed away, clutching my wounded shoulder, shooting him a venomous glance. I'd fight him if I had to- but I wasn't going to fight dirty. I refused to sink to his level.

"You're below me, you're nothing but a bully! You just dragged me here so that you'd have the advantage!" I regretted those words the second I said them. Calling Kaiba a jerk or a bully was one thing, and he didn't seem to care much- I think he even liked it. But saying he couldn't hold his own in a real fight was another. I steadied myself, preparing to be rushed by him, but it never came because suddenly he snapped his head the other direction. What the heck was going on?


	4. Part I 3: Fat

**High in Calcium**

**Published:** 18th May 2003   
**Pairings:** Seto x Joey  
**Disclaimers: **Yu-Gi-Oh obviously isn't mine, but this fanfiction is.  
**Archive?** What? You're serious? Sure! Just tell me first! ^^  
**Summary:** You usual Seto x Joey fanfic, with my own twist- 'cause I can't bear the overused general stuff. ^_^;; (If you wanna ignore my random rambling, just scroll down to the chapter title, that's where the story begins)  
  
**Special Contest**: I'm going to write a fanfiction or do a fanart oekaki for the first person who can correctly identify where I get my chapter titles / section titles from (also where the title of the story comes from), but you'll have to be specific as to what type of a thing it is, and what variation. I'll give the answer at the end of the very last chapter when I finish the story- if nobody figures it out. If ya do just e-mail me or throw up your answer on the "review" section. I'll do a fanart or fanfiction for whatever you request- any genre of things, real stuff, anime, et cetera, and any plot ya want, or any coupling, or whatever. I'm pretty open as long as I sorta know the series. ^_^  
  
Contest Updates:   
  
phwee? yami hobo: nope. Not chocolate  
kitsune hashiba: nope. Not whipped cream or ice cream- though they *do* taste good. ^_^;;  
Good guesses though...  
  
**Both Neko-chan and Jantra guessed Yogurt. They were right; however, neither specific what flavour of yogurt.. so I'm still looking for a winner. Any takers?** Just guess the flavour..  
  
**Other notes:** Yes, I did write really quickly- and I'm not even really going to proofread this chapter. Why? Because I want to put it up as quickly as I can, mainly because I have to go now, but secondly because I don't want to change the emotion I packed in. I really am quite fond of this chapter- I really wasn't liking the story much until this point. Generally I'm a plot-based writer, but in this case I know the characters better than what I wanted to do with them, so I decided to let them lead me. Usually I know when to throw in lots of intense angst and emotion- but since I was character-writing instead of plot-writing I was a bit unsure. When I write, plot is the second most important thing to me. The most important thing is emotion, and the portrayal of it. In my opinion, this chapter really gets that emotion across... I am quite happy with it. ^_^  
  
And as far as chapters go, I would like you to know, there is a rationality to the chapters- just in case you didn't get it. Prologue: Nutritional Information was referring to the information on the health chart thingie on my yogurt container, so I used to to reference to the opening of the story... the introduction basically. Energy was supposed to be a reference to Joey's bursts of energy in Chapter 1.1, and Protein in Chapter 1.2, well, someone told me blood has protein in it. ^_^;; As for fat in this chapter? This is a pretty "bulky" chapter, it's definitely the lengthiest one I've written for this fanficcie so far... sooo.. there's your explanation. Sorry if it's such a crappy one. M'whaha.  
  
Again, feel free to drop me an e-mail or a review any time. I am very pleased with all the responses I have. I am so happy people are enjoying reading this and I feel very honoured and humbled by all of you!  
  
**Quotation of the Day: **"In your dreams, magical thoughts. All things are real, Unless you dream they're not. In your dreams, Love is the plot, Carried on wings of hope. Each of our souls Intertwine, as we do. Instantly we see it, The time to grow and be it, When everything is pinned on a hope. May rise the dreams of your heart, That innocent youth, Careless and kind, Free to roam the breeze in love, Only when two brilliantly shine as one." - Opening Theme (From Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete)  
  
**Responses to Reviews:**  
  
Lucifer's Son: Where's my cookie dammit? ;;;;;;;; **Evil grin**  
  
Um. Thank-you very much to everyone who spent time reviewing or commenting on this fanfiction! I don't have time to list all your names.. o.O;; I'll try and post them if I get time when I put up the next chapter. -^_-;;;

**  
  
1.3: Fat**

_Because you're not so smart it brings you down,  
And the things people say hurt you awfully.  
But you're still always so understanding and kind,  
Yet you still weep because you feel you're unwanted.  
And I wish that I could help you_

  
"Big brother! Can we talk now?" Cried the glorious voice of my saviour. My saviour, at the moment, happened to be a bratty little kid with dark hair that was banging loudly on the door with his annoying voice. And I loved him for it. I was saved by the knock! For the time being, anyway. Kaiba was distracted, and looked caught between the door and me. He stared at the door for a second, then shot my a dirty look, pointing a reprimanding finger at me, trying to signal at me not to move. That was okay, I didn't plan on listening to him anyway.

Kaiba strode toward the door to greet his brother, and opened it just a crack. I rushed toward him, hoping to burst past, but in an instant he had slipped himself through the door before his younger brother could even see me, and clicked it locked. I reached the door, skidding to a stop, and grabbed the knob, turning it violently. Damn it! Damn him! I banged on the door, and began hollering, but I guess Kaiba already had escorted his brother down the hall and they couldn't hear me. I sighed, realizing it was futile to try and get through the door. I looked around for a clock to see the time, luckily it was a Saturday, so there wasn't any school that I was missing. I didn't see a clock, and looked around for an escape. I remembered the bathroom that I hadn't been into yet, and rushed toward the curtains, drawing them back.

I entered the bathroom, and an array of new scents greeted me. It smelled of soap, and cleanliness. The place didn't smell very much like Kaiba. Not that I should know what Kaiba smelled like... but I did. I threw that thought to the back of my mind for the moment, because I knew that if I wanted to escape I would have to do it right then, whilst Kaiba was busy dealing with his brother. I didn't know exactly how long they'd be gone, but I was sure that Kaiba was going to be back soon for me, from the looks of it, unless some sort of emergency arose, which I doubted highly.

I looked around the clean white bathroom, only seeing a few towels. There was no way I could tie those together and throw them out the window to escape- but the window was open in the bathroom! And it wasn't too high for me to climb out of. Immediately I sped to it, and looked out. Or rather, I looked down. It was quite a long ways down, as well. It wasn't impossible- but it had to have been a good three stories. If there was a drainpipe I probably could have shimmied down it without hesitation, but seeing as it was flat and smooth it looked almost impossible without some sort of a rope. With a sigh I wondered if I shouldn't just try jumping. It wouldn't hurt *that* much. I doubted I would even break a bone, what, with that soft grassy carpet below that could cushion the impact? I took one more look out the window. Umm... maybe jumping wasn't such a good idea after all. It did look mighty steep.

I pondered over tying the bed sheets together to make a hasty escape out the window, the bedroom to do so. Working efficiently I began tying them together, and dragging the man-made rope of white cloth to the window. I tied one end to the sink faucet, and threw the other end out the window, and stuck one foot over the edge. I inhaled heavily, and tugged on the rope, seeing if it would hold my weight. It seemed like it would. Suddenly I heard a noise in the room. Shit! Kaiba was coming back! Suddenly I heard footsteps, and I began to work even faster, pulling my other leg over, and slowly levering my body out the window as well. As I tried to move down, I realized I was stuck. Something had my arm. A hand had grasped onto my arm, and was tugging me back up. I struggled and tried to pull away, but it was no use. I was being slowly pulled back into the bathroom.

I tugged and protested, but it did no good, because Kaiba pulled me back in, and tossed me onto the floor. He slammed the window shut, and did not look very happy. Then again, he didn't exactly look angry either. He just looked... displeased. Kaiba's facial expression never did seem to vary too immensely. He always retained that solemn, smug, boastful look. He towered over my crumpled form, and I glared at him, feeling my lower lip quiver. I was afraid of what he was going to do to me, but I was too scared to let him know I was afraid. I refused to show any sign of my fear.

"I see you are upset with my hospitality so far, Wheeler? Do not worry. You'll get what is coming to you." He smiled sadistically. My stomach churned at that, and I recoiled in loathing and fear. I had been so close to escape... but wait! Maybe there was another way out? A light bulb flashed, and suddenly a new thought came into my head. I knew lying and saying he was better than me or whatever wasn't really what he was after. So what was it that he wanted from me exactly? This was going far beyond a simple vengeance trip- he had made it personal.

"Fine Kaiba, you win. What do you want?" I sighed, trying to sound tired and ashamed. Kaiba looked confused for a second, because his face was a wash of different shades of emotion. Finally he decided to take me seriously, and smiled menacingly. Because he was getting what he wanted. Because he was Seto Kaiba, and he got everything that he wanted. Yeah? Well, he wasn't going to have his bloodthirsty lust to torture me! I wasn't about to let him. I'd fight him to the end, I wasn't about to give up any time soon! I believed in things stronger than vengeance- I fought for my friends, and for the bond that united us. I fought for what was right, and what I felt in my heart. I was going to continue fighting for all I was worth, until I was totally spent, and there was nothing that some stupid punk who thought he was better than me was going to be able to say or do about it.

"Is something wrong Wheeler? Or are you finally willing to admit the truth? That you're a pathetic dog and that I'm far above you? Face it, mutt, you were never a match for me." His eyes shifted over my body. He believed me! It was working! I guess he had thought it over for a second, and figured I was too stupid to lie. Oh, how wrong he was. Well, he'd learn his lesson. I sat there looking up at him with the biggest, most innocent eyes I could muster. Internally I felt like gagging. Sucking up to Kaiba was worse than sucking up to a teacher! It in and of itself was pretty damn degrading... but I had to do what I had to do. I wasn't going to be a part of the brown-haired boy's sick game anymore. It was time for me to get out.

"What do I want? Mmm... everything and nothing." He reached a hand down to me. That was just like Kaiba, to be mysterious and indecisive. I accepted his hand graciously, and heaved myself upward. Suddenly I pretended to be tired and weak, and collapsed onto him. He led me slowly out of the bathroom, and stood there for a moment supporting me. He gazed into my eyes- as if searching for something. He looked at me, with those cold eyes that could see through you- see deeply into my soul. I felt my throat grow tight, my mouth went dry, and something inside me felt so empty- like there was a big gaping hole in it.

Kaiba said nothing, but continued to look at me, slowly reaching a hand up to my hair to stroke it. I resisted the urge to shudder as he ran his hand through my hair. Not because I was disgusted, just because his touch was like ice against my body. His other hand lazily ran itself down my back. I had no idea what he was doing exactly, and I didn't care to, either. He seemed to be enjoying his little power trip for the time being- thinking I had finally given in to him, realizing there was no way out. Little did he know, he was so very wrong. Little did he realize, he must have been so caught up in the moment, that my hands were doing a little "exploring" of their own.

I reached my hand down his back easily, while I slipped the other one around his waist. I began to slide the first hand down... further until I reached his back pocket. As I leaned my head over his shoulder, I could see the glint of something. It was the key! I just... had to reach... a little more! I stretched my hand down, and caught the chain of keys between two of my fingers! I had the keys! Now, I just had to pull it up slowly. It was no easy task, and they immediately slipped out of my grasp, luckily Kaiba hadn't noticed. He was too infatuated with his sick-o power trip.

I groaned softly as I lost my grip on the keys, and Kaiba must have taken that as some other meaning, because his soft hands began to turn a bit rougher. For a second I totally lost my concentration at the brunette's hold on me, and realized that what he was doing... felt... good. Gah! I shook that thought off, and began to work on reaching for the keys again. In my head I was sort of laughing at the situation. Imagine what it would have looked like if someone had come in on us! He had his hands around me, and was softly caressing my back, and there I was, with my hand in his back pocket, intensely searching. It was a funny, and sick situation at the same time. And that's what laughter is for, I guess. We laugh when something is so inconceivably awful that we can't cry. We laugh at other's ailments- and at our own. We are unable to cope with non-stop grief, so instead we turn it into a happy situation. Except in my case, I wasn't the least bit happy.

Finally I managed to intertwine my fingers with the set of keys, and slowly pulled them upward, clenching my hand into a fist. I slowly managed to draw back, leading Kaiba toward the door. He forcefully pinned me to the door, and gazed deep into my eyes. I cowered slightly, playing the role that I should be perfectly. Meanwhile, behind my back, my hand was fidgeting with the key, finally finding the lock, and sliding it in. Kaiba gave a gasp as I slid the door open, and stepped through the open doorway, leaning against the wall with hand, and the open door with the other. He gave me a cold look.

"Good-bye, Kaiba." I whispered through clenched teeth, and we stood there in silence like that for a moment or two. He leaned in toward me, so that our bodies nearly met, but I drew back, startled. I dropped the keys, and he reacted quickly, but so did I. I turned and fled, unable to even look back. As I escaped down the hallway, my heart was beating a mile-a-minute. His eyes- Oh god. I had seen betrayal in those eyes. I had lied- I had betrayed him. He looked almost sad, even though he refused to show it. Somehow, I had outwitted Seto Kaiba, himself. *The* Seto Kaiba. The same kid who was a CEO; the same kid that dragged a briefcase and a laptop to school; the same kid that boasted constantly about how much better than me he was. So why did I feel so awful? I closed my eyes as I ran, feeling the tears emerging in my eyes. I held a hand up, to wipe them away, and skidded to a stop, screeching recklessly around the corner, nearly knocking a table over with an expensive-looking vase on it in my wake.

I flew down the massive and elaborately designed staircase when I reached it, even though I was extremely tempted to slide down the banister. Instead, I hopped down the steps, three, four, five at a time. Finally, with a triumphant burst I had unlocked the front door, and was outside. I took a deep breath at the cool summer air, and ran to the fence that surrounded the mansion. It was relatively tall, but I knew I could climb it easily. I had been a street kid, for a while, of course. I knew how to hop a fence pretty easily, since I had been a gang member for a while and whatnot. Ya know how it is- getting chased down by other gangs, or the cops or whatever. Well, when I was alone and recognized or whatever. Those chase scenes really aren't quite as glamorous as they seem to be in the movies- but that's a different story. I had catapulted myself over the fence, and was on the other side, panting heavily. I had escaped, an in one piece nonetheless. And without a scar- well, there was that wound from Kaiba. I shuddered, remembering that, but it was already pretty well clotted, and it hadn't been a big cut anyway, so the scab was already forming overtop. It's not like I was one to faint at the site of blood- then again, I didn't exactly derive pleasure from wounding people or nothin'.

  
It was Monday when I went back to school, almost fully recovered mentally from Kaiba's attacks. I had sorted things out with my friends, who had been worried about me, and patched things up a little with my father. He seemed mostly worried about me as well, if not a little angry. I had a little trouble explaining what happened. I basically said I had slept over at a friend's house or something like that because of some emergency that happened to their family I couldn't get a ride back, or some lie like that to my father when he asked. As for my friends? I told them the truth, but simplified it a lot, and didn't dare go into detail. I just said Kaiba dragged me off to his mansion like the lunatic he was, and bruised me up a bit, but I got him back and escaped. I didn't bother to mention that he bit me in the chest, or that he had toyed with me ridiculously... or that we had slept together. Not like that! Okay? Yeesh. Why did I keep thinking it sounded like I had slept *with* Kaiba? It was just the way it sounded. I'd just have to be more careful 'bout how I worded stuff, I guess.

When I went back to school on Monday, things were the same. Same old Yugi and Tristan and Tea and Bakura- after they all had gotten over me being okay and expressed their worry more than they had on the phone. There were a lot of anti-Kaiba feelings flowing, especially through Tristan. Yugi looked awfully confused, and Tea didn't seem to have much of a comment on the situation. I think she was mostly just happy that we were all able to be friends still and hang out normally, and that everything was okay with me. And Bakura kept his views pretty quiet, as usual.

School was the same, boring old thing like always. Unchanging, pedestrian, unsanitary, dull. Classes put me to sleep. The only okay time was lunch hour. Everything seemed normal, until I saw Kaiba in the same spot as usual. Only he didn't say anything. No insults. No snide remarks. He was totally silent. Just staring. Just looking at me- with those eyes. Full of hidden truths that remained unlocked. Full of sober thoughts I might never be able to understand, even if I ever cared to try. Whatever he was thinking... it seemed beyond my comprehension.

Kaiba wasn't looking for me after school that day. He headed straight for his limo, opened the door, and was about to get in, when I came bounding up. He totally ignored me. Nobody ignores Joey Wheeler that easily! What the hell was he doing, mad at me? Who the hell did he think he was, anyway? He had no right. He was acting like a spoiled child, just because he didn't get his own way. Just because he was Seto Kaiba. He had his own damn way long enough. He thought that he was always going to get everything that he wanted- and I felt that it was I who would have to teach him such a valuable lesson.

"Kaiba." I stated. He stopped getting in. He turned his head to look at me, raising an eyebrow slowly. I grabbed his arm and pulled him gently away from the limo. He was standing in front of me, giving me his full attention. Now... I was going to have to say something. It was my turn to be sincere and honest with Kaiba. If I had learned anything from Yugi about friendship and teaching immoral people lessons, I had figured out that you had to know how to deal with them properly. Obviously I couldn't win Kaiba over with rash words or insults. So I'd just have to try and be kind... and understanding. As sick as it made me feel- trying to be nice to the jerk, I figured it was the only real way. I had spent long enough fighting with him- it already seemed like forever. I wanted things just to be resolved already.

"I don't have time for this, mutt. I'm late for a very important business meeting." He sneered, looking at his watch, casually, and motioning toward his briefcase as though I were an utter moron. Well, at least Kaiba was back to his old self. Then again, it wasn't like he'd changed that much over the weekend. I'd just seen a few sides of him I didn't bother to think he had. How cruel he could be. Or how compassionate. He just didn't showcase his emotions very often- that was all.

"Cut the crap, Kaiba. Look... about last weekend-" He cut me off with a hard punch in the face. All that emotion in him must have caused a rise. I had no clue what he was feeling toward me, but I did know that it had caused him to snap just then. Something I had said must have triggered it. If only I was able to understand he was thinking! It wasn't so much the punch that had hurt, (even though it did sting pretty badly), but rather the emotion that had been dragged along with it. Emotions I couldn't even figure out. Emotions he had thrown at me for some unknown reason. Look at me! I was just some average kid. So why the hell did he have to give me all this grief?

"Snivelling dog. You don't even deserve to live. You're lucky I haven't put you out of your misery... yet." He snarled violently as I tried to stumble up. Then he got into his limo, and shut the door as it drove off- refusing to turn back. I felt hurt. I had gone to him, open-armed, no tricks, no lies. And he hadn't accepted it. I guess he didn't trust me anymore... ever since I had run off. What the hell was he thinking? That I wouldn't try to run away? He had me locked up in a room! He practically had me caged! And he *didn't* expect me to escape? It was probably just his own carelessness. I figured he was just acting like a spoiled child. It wasn't the fact that I had escaped. He could catch me again if he really wanted to- I think it was the fact that I had finally outwitted him for once- not that it took any enormous amount of brains to deceive him and steal the keys. Any moron could have pulled that one off.

Some of my friends came running up to me, but I brushed them aside, and began to walk off on my own. I needed some time to think about things. I needed some space, some distance. I felt a little dizzy and weak, probably because of all these strange emotions surrounding me. Kaiba's emotions. Mine. I didn't understand what Kaiba was feeling, and I might never, but I figured I should at least get myself sorted out first. What were these intense things I was struggling through? Why did Kaiba do all those things to me? Why did he hate me so? Why did I let him get to me? Tristan called my name, but Yugi pulled him back.

"I think Joey needs some time on his own." Even as I was walking away I could clearly hear Yugi speaking solemnly to my other friends. They must have agreed with him, because they didn't try to follow me after that. I walked down the street, under the shade of several large leafy trees that caused a canopy of splendid greens and yellows. I walked on, the blocks blurring together into a single strand of movement. Time seemed to loose meaning or existence, and I didn't even bother to check the time. Finally my legs grew weary and I felt it was time to take a rest. I didn't know where I was, or how I was going to get back, and the sun was lowering onto the horizon. My dad was going to kill me for being so late, but I just didn't care anymore. I ended up finding a small park, which was empty, since it was basically dinner time. My stomach rumbled, and I realized I hadn't eaten for a good five or six hours. I was starving! But with no available food in sight, and more important things to concentrate on, I ignored my stomach for once.

I thought about how I felt. Was I going to be able to ever get Kaiba to be nice? Even Yugi hadn't been able to befriend the cold hearted boy, and he had tried too. Then again, maybe Yugi knew something I didn't. Yugi seemed to understand the way the brown-haired boy worked better than I did. It seemed like he knew that Kaiba was in a different position, and that Kaiba held his position proudly, and there was nothing he could do to physically change that, try as he might. Did that mean that I would never be able to knock Kaiba off his pedestal? I figured that even the "almighty" Kaiba would have to show his softer side at some time or another. I just had to figure out how to get that side of him out in the open...

As I sat on the old wooden jungle gym in the kid's playground part of the small park with the sun going down in front of me, I sighed heavily, running a hand throw my hair. Why did Kaiba hate me so much? What had I ever done? I kept asking myself until tears came to my face. I thought my tears were all dried up by then, but I was wrong. They came, fresh, sliding down my cheeks. I was tired of being brave. I was sick of being strong and brave. I was weak and frail- and felt like giving up the fake shields I had placed in front of myself in my daily life. It was time to take off that mask I wore to protect myself from people like my father or Kaiba. Time had rusted and decayed the mask, and the fakeness of it all was wearing off, slowly falling to pieces like my heart. I thought my heart was broken into a million tiny splinters of glass, and I just sat there bawling my eyes out. Tears slipped freely down my face, and this time I didn't even bother to wipe them away. I was too sad. All those thoughts. Those memories. So many days- so many years, all those thoughts. And everything was crowding around me at once. I felt like grabbing my hair and just tearing it out. My mind was racing and I felt frustrated and tired and weak and a mixture of all sorts of emotions I still couldn't even begin to understand.

I felt like I had accomplished a lot, and was on my way to relaxation, finally, but I knew there was so much to sort out still. Somehow, I felt like I had also achieved so little at the same time. Perhaps running away and crying was more childish and immature than Kaiba's spoiled manners as of late, but I needed it. I needed the time to think- I needed to get away from... my life. I needed to be alone. I might have just gone crazy if I didn't.

Finally, a good hour later as the sun had finished its slow descent into the horizon, and the sky was just beginning to grow dark, I slowly climbed off the wooden and metal structure, swinging myself casually down to the ground, and landing in the soft dirt. I stepped off the edge of the playground which was clearly marked with small logs and onto the grassy field that made up the park. As I moved through the grass I saw a few weeds thriving, dandelions and some other stuff as well. I clumsily scuffled through the grass, and reached the sidewalk that traced it's path along the edges of the park. In the far distance I could hear the distant hum of traffic here and there, but seeing as I wasn't on a main road there wasn't any cars that I could see.

I scuffed my shoe on the sidewalk, ignored it, and continued to walk on slowly. Trudging around, walking aimlessly with no real direction. As I looked slowly down around me, I saw a small amount of flowers growing in the solemn light of the moon which was shining through as the sky grew progressively darker. The flowers glowed with an eerie iridescence in the light of the moon. Midnight blooming flowers, their shimmering beauty untouched by mortal hands... My train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a flash of lights. It was a car- and it was coming right at me! I stood there, in total shock, as the thing lurched, skidding to a halt, so close that if it had gone much further it would have driven right up the sidewalk and probably run me over. When I got a clear look at what it was, I realized immediately. It was a limo. And who did I know that owned a limo? *The* Seto Kaiba. Nobody else. And guess who stepped out of that limo? It didn't come as much of a surprise when the brown-haired youth did. But what was he doing there? How had he found me?

"Mutt..." He said, quietly as he approached me after slamming the car door behind him. I didn't even realize there were tears in my eyes or that I was crying until he brushed them away with a soft finger. Just like the last time he had touched me- I found his fingers icy and cool against my skin, and suddenly he drew me toward him. I let out a short gasp, and he gazed steadily into my eyes- as if searching. Only this time I was searching right back. What did Kaiba know that I didn't? What secrets really lay beneath those eyes of his that he had trapped in there for so long? Why was Kaiba so intent on following me around? And then he made it out as if I was the one trailing after him like some pathetic puppy... I could feel his hand slip around my back, drawing up against his own body, pulling me into his trench coat, dragging me into his warm body.

"You came." I whispered at last. He said nothing, only nodding. I think my face broke into a lop-sided smile just then. And Kaiba was smiling in his eyes as well. His face remained cold and barren- but his eyes sparkled as the mysterious moonlight danced upon them, creating shadows and illusions across those icy irises of the brown-haired youth. I threw my arms around his neck, and leaned against him, holding on for dear life. I had no idea what I was feeling, or even what I was doing, but he had come to help me in my time of need- and nobody else had. And he rubbed my back, comforting me softly as I cried into his shoulder.


	5. Part I 4: Carbohydrates

**High in Calcium**

**Published:** 19th May 2003   
**Pairings:** Seto x Joey  
**Disclaimers: **Yu-Gi-Oh obviously isn't mine, but this fanfiction is.  
**Archive?** What? You're serious? Sure! Just tell me first! ^^  
**Summary:** You usual Seto x Joey fanfic, with my own twist- 'cause I can't bear the overused general stuff. ^_^;; (If you wanna ignore my random rambling, just scroll down to the chapter title, that's where the story begins)  
  
**Special Contest**: The contest is officially closed. **Jantra** and **Neko-chan** both guessed Yogurt, and then both and **Sweet-Innocence** guessed strawberry flavoured. So, since I'm gonna try and be super nice, I'll give each of them a prize. So if you're one of those three peoplez that answered first, just drop me a line through e-mail or a review or whatever and tell me whether you want me to do a fanfiction or oekaki, what genre, anime, and pairing, et cetera. Don't expect the requests to be done for a while though, I've got final exams coming up soon- plus this fanfiction and my general life is taking up a bit of my time as well. ^_^;;;  
  
**Other notes:** ^_^;; I've written this faster than any of my other chapters. I wasn't paying attention, 'cause I was talking to TRI on ICQ about.. guess what? The great responses I've recieved from you guys through form of review. I'm amazed at how I've recieved 53 comments! 53! That's amazing.. I'm simply astounded... and humbled more than anything. So I'm trying to keep up the quick posting of new chapters- though I was busy today (I went to a wedding)... sooo, this one is coming a little later than usual. ^^;; Hope it wasn't *too* much of a wait. Eee! The song quotation just felt suitable for this chapter, and story in general!  
  
**Quotation of the Day: **"Dreamin', it's not that easy any more when you say Dreamin'. Did you close the open door, While in there? I've never been so near the light Without you. I'm only half the man inside, See me. So much more to me Than anyone. Leavin', What do you still believe to find by Leavin'? The lie that you just left behind Right in there. The sky is dark and full of clouds With you. Nothing left to kill the dust Be with you- is to be found, and now I'm lost again. Is it wrong? Is it right? It don't matter if we come home tonight. There's a light, Let it in again. Sorry, I never meant to break your heart, So sorry. I didn't see the shining star Right in there. And now I'm lost in all those storms Without you. I'm so afraid, I miss your warmth. Forgive me, Don't let me fall And Take me home again. Is it wrong? Is it right? It don't matter if we come home tonight. There's a light, Let it in. Do begin." - Dreaming (By Fools Garden)  
  
**Responses to Reviews:**  
  
o.O;; I have 0 time to reply. I'll just list all your names super-quickly. If I missed you, I'll catch you later. And probably post a reply on the next chapter. ^_^;;; 

Big thanks to: Tigre Moonstorme, Kitsune Hashiba, Myaami, Difinity, Lucifers Sun, Echo, Mugs, Kim, Delete, DaughterofDeath, phwee? yami hobo, Neko-Chan, AnimeGoddess, InsaneBakura, Kaneda-Shotaro and Yami Tetsuo, Sweet-Innocence, Blue Lagoon Loon, Jou-Pup, Space Case, and Jenniyah**  
  
****maladyrancor**: Wow! I am so touched by what you have said. *Bow* Thank-you so much for your kind words and detail of explanation, review-wise. It means very much to me.**  
  
**And this chapter is randomly dedicated to **Lady Geuna** for being the very first person to review this fanfic! M'whaha.**   
  
**And for anyone else I forgot... ^_^;;I updated fast for.. umm.. you all! But mostly for all you people who told me to update quickly. ^_^;; And here's a bit more shounen-aishness for all you people who wanted me to throw more in and have them get together. But I had to put in a good dose of confusion, emotion, and angst... 'cause, yeah, that's how I am. ^_^;; For people who wanted me to write a lemon... I guess it's not out of the question... but I've never done it before... so I'm a bit nervous. I suppose if enough people want one I might try. Luckily I've got people kind enough to pre-read a lemon if I write one to see if it should be released to the public. M'whaha. But I'm still not sure. I'm not going to write one just because a lot of people bug me to write one. I'll write one because it seems suitable in the context of the plot- AND because lots of people bug me for one. ^_-;;;;;;**   
  
  
  
****1.4: Carbohydrates**

_What would I do, if I lost you?  
Or what if you went missing from my life?  
For you to never to love me,   
Or for you to never come to me when I call for you?_

  
  
When I finally stopped sobbing I lifted my head slowly and pulled back a little. Kaiba stood there, looking at me... he looked as though he were about to break. If he were anyone but himself, I'm sure he would have burst into tears right then. His eyes were a mix of so many things, and I wanted to help him so badly, yet I was so unsure of myself. I was so confused at what I was feeling still. Wasn't Kaiba my enemy? Somewhere along the lines enemy and several other titles had melted together in a crucible of emotions. I thought that I had sorted everything out before- but when actually face to face with the situation I couldn't deal with it. I was stuck, trapped, and locked. I was about to open my mouth to say... well, something, when he put a hand up, motioning me to be quiet.

"Don't speak." He said, looking directly at me. With that the most unbelievable thing ever happened. He raised his hand so that he held my head, and craned his neck forward, angling his face perfectly so that I could feel his warm breath against my face. He paused for a second, and his eyes flashed dangerously, then he pressed his lips against mine, before I even had time to react. He proceeded to part my lips with his tongue and began to slip into my mouth. I was afraid- I didn't know what to do or what he was doing to me. I could feel his tongue pressing against my mouth, claiming it as his, and I was slightly aware of my own tongue for a second, and with that it was pushing against his. The sensitive receptors on my tongue felt the light coarseness of his tongue; it was like the soft sensation of sandpaper. My body began to grow weak, but he supported me, one hand around my head, the other surrounding my waist. 

Finally he broke the kiss, pulling back as our lips separated, simultaneously. I could feel a wide-spread blush across my face. I was a writhing mess of emotions, and I couldn't express any of them. My face grew hotter and I knew it was turning totally red. I lowered my eyes to the ground, feeling very ashamed, mostly because once again, Kaiba had the upper hand. He had surprised me, and I was upset and emotionally unstable. Feeling forlorn and confused but mostly head-strong I avoided his looks.

"S... sorry." Was all Kaiba managed to sputter after a short pause. I couldn't even look at him, but I caught a glance or two upward. He had his eyes to the ground, in a similar situation to mine. I think he might have been embarrassed, even though his facial expression didn't show it. I felt like he had taken advantage of me. I felt like he was using me. I felt like he was trying to control and own me. None of that was a big problem, really. Kaiba had always been like that. My problem was, that I had actually... liked it. No! No I hadn't! I could have! It was wrong. It was gross. No! I had more than enough reasons!

Reason number one: Kaiba was a guy. I was a guy. That was simple enough. The second reason was that Kaiba was my own worst enemy- if I was friends.. or anything... more with Kaiba (I shuddered at that thought), then I wouldn't be able to remain friends with Yugi or Tea or Tristan or Bakura. Right? Right. What else was there? There were lots of other reasons. Kaiba was an uncompassionate, heartless, icy jerk. Which led me to another good reason, the fact that we were too young. Yeah, that was a perfectly sane reason as well.

As if those reasons weren't good enough, I knew I could come up with more. I also knew that making up reasons was not going to help the situation. The fact was that Kaiba and I had both basically kissed. And I didn't know what I was feeling. I was lost. I was afraid. Mostly I was just confused. I couldn't stand there like that forever... as if it wasn't uncomfortable enough, seeing Kaiba look ashamed or embarrassed, or whatever that not so glorifying look was he had pasted on his face like a rub-off tattoo; I also had to deal with what had just happened, and that awkward silence. If there was one thing I couldn't stand it was silence. And I knew if I said something, it'd just be stupid, like always. The old Kaiba would have insulted me. That I could stand- I could insult him back. But the new Kaiba... who knew what he might do. I had no idea what he was capable of. Maybe it wasn't a "new" Kaiba, in fact, it was most likely just a side of him I had never bothered to see before. Because I hadn't wanted to see a compassionate Kaiba. Because I didn't want him to be human. Because as long as he was a cold, heartless bastard I could get away with insulting him. I could get away with fighting with him non-stop. I could get away with thinking he was black and I was white. That I was good and he was evil. The whole situation made me begin to reconsider things.

I drew back from him. Him: what a concept. He- the one that had fought with me. The one that I had fought. The one with whom I had fought. But there was so much more to it than that. He lingered in my mind like a butterfly to a flower, and stole his way into my heart unconsciously with his brash words and fists. My soul was filled with pain and fear and an intense power when he was around. A fearsome drive. A want. A need. Something urging me to move on desperately, to trudge forth through the vast wastelands that composed my emotions.

I gave him one last look, and then I turned and fled. I ran as hard as I could, and the clear and listless night it had been before was beginning to go into an eerie recluse. The moon that had cast its magical ethereal rays down upon two confused youths now turned to face some other point in outer space as it recoiled behind a large, heavy, black cloud. The winds picked up, and began to grow, as if from nowhere. Yet, I continued to run, through the turmoil of my inner sanctum, through the weather, no matter how bad it grew.

I felt a droplet of rain come down from the grey skies above and land on my nose. I twitched and tried to get it off with my tongue. I must have stood there like a complete fool for a moment, trying to touch my tongue to my nose. Finally, infuriated, I used my hand to brush it off. The winds grew even more powerful, and the rain began to beat down steadily, soaking my clothing. I felt like a wet street animal, abandoned by its owner. And there I was, again, on that train of thought that Kaiba himself had originally set me upon. The rain cascaded down my hair, dripping and dropping in front of my face, but I didn't care anymore. I pushed forward, until I reached the shelter of a tree on the edge of the park, and huddled closely under it.

Did I really dislike the kiss? Did I want it to even happen? I hadn't tried to stop him- but I hadn't exactly expected it. Oh god. Did this make me... a fag? Was Kaiba one? I couldn't let that happen. Or could I? If I was going to be one, I'd better not insult myself with such terms. Okay, so maybe I could get over liking another guy like *that*. But it wasn't just some guy we were talking about here. This was Seto Kaiba! The same jerk that constantly called me a snivelling dog! The same hot-headed jackass that tormented me non-stop. The same idiot that was always trying to show me up.

But what if he did like me, and just didn't know how to express it? What if through anger and acts of hatred he expressed his affection? That would be just like Kaiba too- the sick, twisted bastard. The poor bastard might actually like me a lot more than I had ever conceived if that was true. But... but... I thought it was all about the power trip for him! Perhaps he just used that as an excuse... What was I doing? Was I... falling for Kaiba? The thought struck me like a sack of bricks. As I like to say, that was about when the shit hits the fan.

"JOEY!" My ears perked up. I heard my name. Being called. Loudly. My head shot up from the crouched position I had been in, trying to figure out who had called my name. But I knew immediately, somewhere deep within the bowels of my heart. It was Kaiba. I thought I could see his tall form in the distance, hands cupped to his face, calling my name with nauseating breaths over the steady beat of the rain. He let out another deprived call, but I refused to answer. Just because he was calling me, it didn't mean that I was going to come. I wasn't his dog. I wasn't his pet. And he was by no means my master. Just because he held power over me, it didn't mean anything.

I knew at some point or another I would have to confront him about my feelings, but it was not the right time. I clambered to my feet, stumbling weakly, and began to run down the street, hoping he wouldn't see me. There was no traffic on the road, so I ran across it without worry. At one point I collapsed, heaving my chest forward in delirious breaths of fear and worry, but I managed to push myself forward, through the rains. Though the winds whipped at my face, cutting at my skin like sharp blades, I continued onward, ignoring the brutal stinging sensation.

Kaiba's voice, by then, had faded out and I could hear nothing but the wet rhythm of the droplets of water emitted from the sky that formed a cacophonous symphony of darkness and ambiguity. I couldn't get those voices out of my head. I couldn't even hear myself think. They were ambitious and insincere- yelling at me for liking the kiss, others screaming mercilessly at me for running from my problems all the time. Not a single comforting voice surrounded me. I was cold, and alone, and afraid of everything I knew. I was afraid of what I didn't know as well. In general, I was mostly just afraid of everything. I didn't know where to run, or who to turn to. I wanted to hide myself away from the light of day, but there was nowhere to go.

I wasn't going to be Kaiba's dog anymore. He could come and find me. Ugh. How was that any better? Then it would be like he had come to the pound to come pick me up. No. I would go to him when the time was right, and I had sorted out my feelings, on my own time. I wasn't going to come, tempted as I might have been just to let everything slip away and let wrong turn to right in his arms- ugh. I had to stop thinking like that! I wasn't a dog. I wasn't his. I was a respectable human being. Yeah, a shivering, soaking wet respectable human being that was going to die from the cold. I sneezed, as droplets of rain soaked my hair, turning it a dark, thick tangled mess of blonde. Beads of clear rainwater slid down my face, and drenched my clothing, so that it gained a thick, heavy, see-through property. The wet clothing clung desperately to my body, and I whimpered softly, seeking warmth desperately.

I balled my hand up into a fist. I had to be strong. It was just the weather! I was Joey Wheeler! I had come in second in Duellist Kingdom! I had beaten many foes in my time! I fought for what was good and right- nothing bad could come to pass that would greatly affect me... right? Was I just assuring myself? I could just picture Kaiba with a dog whistle. Trying to degrade me- demean me. But he had been there for me... and taken advantage of me. The bastard. Or maybe I was just bitter and remorseful because I had also derived some... sick satisfaction from it. I... liked being intimate with him. The whole thought sent a huge shudder up my body- which was already shaking from the cold. I tripped, and stumbled, catching myself from falling into a puddle. Not that it would have mattered much, anyway, I was soaking wet as it was.

I clutched myself, and staggered along the street, when I heard the screech of a car as it came up behind me. I was sort of beyond caring. As it skidded to a stop next to me, the door opened. Kaiba, of course. He was getting his nice trench coat all wet standing there, looking infuriated at me, and was yelling something at me, but I couldn't hear him. My head was aglow with the warm buzz of conversations and interrupted thought-process. In fact, I didn't hear what he said until he was basically next to me. Even the beating of the rain was loud, all around us, and steady in the background. Overwhelming any other normal nightly sounds.

"What the hell! Are you crazy, Wheeler? You're going to catch a cold, you lunatic!" He yelled at me, grabbing my arm. But I pulled back, looking him nervously in the eye. His eyes shimmered with unseen charisma and unreserved strength. He was passionate- he was upset. As much as he hated to show it. Oh, those deceiving eyes of his. They reflected his every emotion and feeling, no matter how he tried to safe-guard it. Those cold eyes of his were his Achilles' heel.

"You care?" I gave him a mock look of disbelief, but stayed fairly subtle, and calm. He waved his hands in the rain, as drops splashed off his fingertips and slid down his nose. He snatched my arm again, and began to pull me toward the limo. I sighed and followed him. I was too tired to be concerned. And I was cold. And shivering. I was freezing cold, and soaking wet. And right about then, the limo looked quite inviting, and warm. Mostly just warm. Even if I would have to deal with Kaiba- at least I was more prepared than I had been before. I just... hoped I would be able to deal with everything rationally... who knew what was going to happen.


	6. Part II Prologue: Ingredients

**High in Calcium**

**Published:** 20th May 2003   
**Pairings:** Seto x Joey  
**Disclaimers: **Yu-Gi-Oh is mine.. I mean.. whoops... o.O;; No it isn't!  
**Archive?** What? Are you totally serious? Sure! Just tell me first, and go to the mental hospital to make sure that you're sane still! ^^  
**Summary:** Your usual Seto x Joey fanfic, with my own twist- 'cause I can't bear the overused general stuff. ^_^;; (If you wanna ignore my random rambling, just scroll down to the chapter title, that's where the story begins)  
  
**Other notes:** Hmm. I kept delaying this chapter because I actually lost it by accident when my computer reset and I forgot to save- guess I learned my lesson. That's okay, I made it a tad bit better the second time around. It's a bit... "steamier" so you might want to watch out if you don't like much physical action between two guys- to put it shortly. Then again, if you're not okay with it, why were you here to begin with? o.O;; Maybe you're just crazy like me. ^_^;;;; Anyway, this chapter is purposely short since it's a prologue and foreshadows things to come- but also simply because I didn't want to give away too much crazed shounen-ai goodness? o.O;; Or maybe I'm just a really crappy shounen-ai action writer? ^_^;; I do prefer angst and romance over action, but, f'weh. I guess it is required of me to include some action now and then, plus I bet it'll make some of you peoplez happy. Am I right?  
  
**Quotation of the Day: **"I'm a fool to want you, I'm a fool to want you. To want a love that can't be true. A love that's there for others too I'm a fool to hold you. Such a fool to hold you. To seek a kiss not mine alone, To share a kiss, the Devil has known. Time and time again I said I'd leave you, Time and time again I went away, And then there'd come a time When I would need you And once again these words I'd have to say: "Take me back, I love you. Pity me, I need you. I know it's wrong, It must be wrong, But right or wrong, I can't get along... Without you." Hmmm.. I'm a fool to want you. You hurt me time and time again. But I still love you baby, Hmmm.. I'm a fool. I'm your fool." - _I'm a fool to want you_ (_By **Nina Simone** + **Carly Simon**_)  
  
**Responses to Reviews:**  
  
Holy fijizznit! 74 reviews! I never thought I'd have so many... o.O;; Wow. I'll just briefly list the names, since there are so many...

Big thanks to: Jenniyah, r*a*d*i*a*n*y, Sweet-Innocence, Jantra, Jadej.j, phwee? yami hobo, Blue Lagoon Loon, Bla, Myaami, Kaneda-Shotaro and Yami Tetsuo, Ykarzel, Difinity, Ani-Coolgirl, Kitsune Hashiba, Jou-Pup, DaughterofDeath, InsaneBakura, Echo, Princess Razu, Anime Goddess, and Tigremoonstorme for sticking with the story up to this point so far, and for reviewing the last chapter as well. ^_- You guys rock my world!**  
  
****r*a*d*i*a*n*y**: Yeah, well- it did say fat on the package.. ^_^;; I couldn't exclude it because it sounds funny? **Shrug**  
  
**Sweet-Innocence:** Well, so much for my fast updating. It's been like.. a full day with no update.. ^_^;; This chapter is mega-late.  
  
**myaami:** No! No! Pester the author more! The author likes it! (Why am I talking about myself in the third-person? o.O;;)  
  
**Ykarzel:** Most original? Thank-you very much! *Bow* I try to be original. Best characterization of Joey? Wow.. **Bursting with pride** I fall into his mind well? Wait.. should I take that as an insult.. Joey being a bit slow and all? o.O;;;; Nahhh. ^_^;;;;;;  
  
**Kitsune Hashiba:** I would have put more dialogue in this chapter- but they're too busy MAKING OUT! ;;;;;;; F'whaha. I'll throw more in next chapter, I swear. Mmkayzerz? Thaks for the suggestion. ^^  
  
Sorry for clogging up so much space with random comments.. but um.. this is my story. So I can do what I like! HAHAHHA! (Oh crap. I'm gonna loose all my readers because I waste so much space, aren't I? -_-;; **Goes off and sulks in a corner**)  
  
Extra-special thanks to: Echo, Difinity, Blue Lagoon Loon, Jenniyah, and Kitsune Hashiba for sticking with this story since.. chapter 1. ^_^;; You all get cookies? **Hands them out?**  
**  
**And this chapter is randomly dedicated to **TRI-Link** for listening to me bitch at 2:00 AM last night about my oekakiing skills going down the drain... and singing random songs by Arlo Guthrie... -_-;;;  
**  
**Beware: This chapter contains too much shounen-ai for most people's good. It was requested that I get a bit more action-oriented by enough people that I figured it couldn't hurt. Dialogue and sensible conversations with lots of prettyful angst will return shortly in the next few chapters (hopefully) and maybe some lemon if enough people want one, and it feels natural... I think.. o.O;; But no promises... 'cause I might not... **Shrug****  
  
  
  
****Part II: Ingredients  
(Prologue)**

_Or what if I hurt you without knowing?  
What if you ached in sorrow and tears,   
As you tried to steady your little feet to keep balanced?  
What if your fragile form fell to the ground, broken hearted?_

__  
  
I sat in the limo with my arms crossed, refusing to look at Kaiba. He seemed sort of worried, but I didn't care. When I got in I had sneezed violently once or twice, and was shivering tremendously. When Kaiba insulted me with some sort of dog-related comment, I shook my head rapidly at him, much like a dog would- causing water to splash all over him. He glared at me, but didn't say much after that. Two could play at his game. If he wanted me to be a dog so bad- I could. And I'd show him up at the same time.

Getting comfortable in the limo wasn't much of a problem, it was quite luxuriously decorated. My face remained unchanging, and I tried to ignore the fact that I was shivering. Kaiba tried to put an arm around me, but I shrugged it off. I didn't want to be near him. I felt used. He didn't even care about who I was as a person. He just wanted me because of some sick obsession he had with making his enemies feel like shit.

Kaiba took on an attitude, figuring, I suppose, that if I didn't want him near me, then he could play at the same game. He sat there, relaxing in the soft seats, brushing water droplets off his trench coat, and wiping a few off his face. He looked out the window, casually. But I knew he wasn't really looking out there. There was nothing to see. A few street lamps casting a mystic glow upon the roadside, and the rain coming down all around, casting the illusion of sheets of icy cool showers enveloping the streets.

It seemed like only a few short moments had passed before we arrived; then again, it was getting to be later at night, the streets were emptying, and al the repitition around me probably made time appear to be far shorter than it was in reality. I refused to talk to Kaiba. He was my tormenter. My captor- and in more ways than one, it seemed.

I wondered lightly as to why Kaiba had brought me back to his mansion. Hadn't I already tried to escape twice? Hadn't I already affirmed that I didn't want to speak to him at the moment? Hadn't I- he interrupted my thoughts, by getting out of the limo, coming around the other side, opening the door for me, and patiently waiting. When I ignored him, he grabbed my arm and yanked me somewhat forcefully out of the limo. I sighed, and allowed myself to be dragged after him. There was no disputing it at that point.

  
When we got back to his room, he decided against locking the door for once, though he did close it. I stood there, looking at him with emotionless eyes. I was tired, and weak- but at least I felt warmed up. I closed my eyes tightly together, hoping the day would just end. When I opened them I could see Kaiba's still form up next to me. He let a smug grin pass across his placid face, and I felt a cool finger run down the side of my arm. His touch was like silk made of precious icy crystals. I gave him a slightly shocked look, but he only leaned in on me. I tried to move- I tried to escape, but the inner-conflict was too much. I couldn't win against myself.

And then he was there- in an instant, both arms on either side of me, facing the wall, and leaning in. Feeling irked, I tried to slither away, my still somewhat wet clothing tagging along for the ride. He caught me in mid-stride; however, and pulled me back, leering intensely at me. Mocking me with those very same eyes as his- with those perfect lips. Why the hell was I looking at his lips? And the intense way in which they formed words... What was he saying, anyway?

"You should get out of those wet clothes." He smirked, seductively. I gave a sheepish look, putting a hand behind my head, trying to back out of the situation. I tried to find excuses- anything to make me not have to change. Anything to get me away from the room- the mansion. Anything to get me away from Kaiba until I could deal with him. The entire situation was a bit troublesome.

"I... I'll be fine." I replied, rather innocently. He shook his head, with a sneer. Instantly throwing away any hope I had of escape. He hadn't locked the door- it was a trust thing. I remembered that look he had given me the last time I had escaped. There was that old longing in his eyes just then. The longing that had driven me mad. That lust that had made me half-alive.

"Nonsense. You can borrow some of mine." He said casually. As if it were just another thing we did daily. As if I ran through parks in the rain. As if he caught me- trapped me- saved me. As if we were friends. As if it were routine. Yeah, sure thing. I didn't think the day would ever come that Kaiba and would be friendly- then again, the whole obsession thing was a bit... well, interesting. That's all I could say about it. I didn't want to comment further- mostly because I was distressed by the whole situation. It was just too much for my mind to handle.

Suddenly he was up against me, leaning into my body. I could feel the blush spreading across my face, and I was irked to say the least. I tried to slither away, my wet clothing tagging along, but he caught my arm, pulling me back. Fixing my eyes unto his. Those deep, passionate, icy blue eyes of his- I couldn't resist them. I felt drawn in. I was absolutely unable to break the gaze. He had me locked on- winding myself further and further down a treacherous road, from which there seemed to be no easy escape. His solemn face remained simple- yet his eyes were as complex as ever.

With that, in an instant, he was up against me. One second I was staring in awe into his eyes, and the next our lips had met. He pressed his own lips softly against mine, and slipped his tongue along my bottom lip, almost pleading- but I was the one begging in a second, as I emitted a soft whimper from my throat. With that his lips moved against mine, his tongue sliding into my mouth. I could feel my tongue battling his, as a mix of lust and confusion battled its way into me. He slid a hand around my back, pulling me deeper into the kiss. It was even more passionate than the kiss earlier, and he drew me in seductively. My mind was a buzz of emotion- waves washing up against my mind, tormenting me endlessly. I tried to question the feelings I was having, but the second I tried to I found myself distracted from the brown-haired boy's warm body supporting mine, his clever stance, his beautiful eyes. I closed my eyes, and felt his soft touch, inhaled his distinct and almost tangible scent- and tasted him. He tasted of the intoxicating flavour of strawberries and some unidentifiable, but potent alcohol.

Kaiba had a facial expression that made me wonder if he thought he was dreaming. Or maybe he had just dreamed of the moment so many times that he wasn't sure if it was a dream or not anymore. At any rate, a moment later I squirmed slightly, remembering who I was and where I was, but he refused to let me go of my own accord. He moaned softly into my mouth as he rubbed a delicate hand along my side, causing me to pull back more. That only made him pull me in with more force, and I ended up falling inward, leaning even deeper into the kiss. Finally he drew back slowly, opening his eyes to look at me. I felt very frail and weak.

"Kaiba- d... don't hurt me." The words flew out of my mouth, and before I knew what was happening I felt all weak in the stomach and legs. My body collapsed, my legs giving way to the ground. With that he had caught me, holding me mere inches from the ground. He stared at me for a second, and I looked deep into his eyes. Then, slowly, he pulled me back up so that I was facing him once more.

"I have no intention of hurting you. And you can call me Seto." He gave me that smug grin. Only, for once I wasn't angry. Only confused. He wasn't going to hurt me? What sort of torture and death was painless? Maybe that wasn't what Kaiba intended to do... if not that, then what? I was not only inexperienced at the time, being only an innocent youth at the time, but even if I had known what Kaiba was planning, I might have never figured that he of all people was scheming it. Not to do with me. Those kisses- were they a control thing as well? I was lost... and utterly innocent, even if I did try and act tough, or pretended to be a "player" some of the time.

"I need you, Joey." Kaiba said, as he moved up against me, leaning his head onto my shoulder, and whispering into my ear. I felt my eyes grow wide, and a bright blush spread vividly across my face. I stuttered, but was unable to form a single word, and with that Kaiba was pulling away, tugging on my arm, leading me away from the wall- toward... the bed. I gulped. I didn't know what to do, or what Kaiba was going to do. I was scared. I'll admit it. I tried to steady myself, but stumbled, and began to fall again. Kaiba couldn't catch me the second time around, and I fell to the ground. I wasn't exactly sure when they appeared, but I knew that the tears came at some point. They were mild at first, but as they grew into a steady stream I could feel them sting. Kaiba bent down, and put his arms around me, comforting me and trying to hush me. He raised one of his hands to my face, and brushed away the tears gently, then proceeded to stroke my hair, the soft strands separating like a river to his touch.

There was no purpose in words for the longest period of time. When I had finally calmed down, I just sat there, looking at him. Trying to memorize every detail of his perfection. That same face that made me so angry once, and so happy then. The same person who insulted me, the same person who comforted me. And I felt like my heart was going to burst with confusion and emotion. He must have known by instinct that I was scared. I still didn't know how Kaiba, of all people could have so much... compassion. As to why he held it deep within himself for me- I really wasn't sure. Somehow hate was turning into so much more. Slowly obsession was untangling itself from his mind, and deriving itself into something much more important and influential.

"Seto..." I breathed deeply into his ear as he held me even tighter. Slowly my tongue slipped out, and traced it's way along the edge of his ear- it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. The brown haired teen let out a soft moan, and I continued softly slipping my tongue along the contours of his lobe. My tongue narrowed down toward his strong jawbone, lapping softly at the smooth surface. A soft smile broke across his face. The first one I had ever seen. I never knew he had such a beautiful smile before. I had never seen him without that ferocious attitude, or that sneering scowl, or a menacing, venomous smirk before. It was the first time for a lot of things, it seemed.

He climbed to his feet, pulling me up in his warm embrace, and pulled me toward the bed. He down next to me on the edge of the bed, a inconspicuous arm around my shoulders, supporting me. I knew then I was to take confidence in him, he said he wasn't going to hurt me, and he had meant it. I had already known by that point he wasn't going to hurt me physically- I had meant mentally. The pain, the suffering, the tragic loss and mental anguish and confusion I would go through if he toyed with me and left me would be insurmountable. I would live a human forbid.

As he let me go, I was forced to steady myself. I had enough confidence in the other teen, and was just hoping that he wasn't going to take things too far. I was hoping he knew his limits. More than anything, I was still somewhat confused- and was hoping that I knew my own limits. He stood in front of me, looking down, and leaned over me. He craned his neck down to plant kisses along my jaw, trailing slowly to my chest, as he slipped me out of my t-shirt. He placed butterfly-kisses along my chest, moving progressively lower. I whimpered plaintively, and he only responded with a mischievous grin. I knew I was going to regret that look in a second, because suddenly he had replaced his kisses with his soft, sandpaper tongue. He traced his way down to my navel, and filled the indentation that formed there. He reached his hands toward my pants, to lower them, but I stretched a desperate hand out to him, not knowing how much more I could even last.

"Stop!" I groaned, the pressure and ecstasy building to a point of extraneous collapse. Kaiba was torturing me in a way I never thought possible. The want to have- the urging need that could never be fulfilled fully... it all built up until I felt like bursting, hoping the rush of caught up moments would expand and contract steadily once more. It felt like a hose that had been blocked off part-way, with a build up of water waiting desperately to be released, only the hose usually would coil and snap violently, whereas I was reduced to a squirming, writhing, moaning bundle of nerves.

"Okay, puppy." He smiled smugly, brushing a soft hand up my torso, and another across my chest as he quite casually lifted his head to mine, and claimed me as his once more with a light kiss on the cheek. I closed my eyes and savoured the moment, no longer struggling with anything but myself. What was I feeling? Well, other than that immense passion? I felt confusion and torment- torn between two perfect worlds. Caught between two Joey Wheelers. Everything that composed the list of my two then very separate lives was equally important to me. My friends- my deep affection and sincerest friendships with them, our united bonds. Then there was Kaiba, and my requited, fiery lusts that had suddenly arisen from new experiences. The ingredients to both aspects were so vastly numerous- and so highly important that I felt suspended between to equally important issues. My mind was simply conflicted, but at least I was in the strong teen's hands, and he comforted me with soft affectionate strokes across my skin.


	7. Part II 1: Fruit Juice Concentrate

**High in Calcium**

**Published:** 22nd May 2003   
**Pairings:** Seto x Joey  
**Disclaimers: **Calcium is mine.. I mean.. no it isn't...o.O;; Whoops, I mean, Yu-Gi-Oh isn't. ^_^;;;  
**Archive?** What? Are you totally serious? Sure! Just tell me first, and go to the graveyard to see if you're still alive!  
**Summary:** Your usual Seto x Joey fanfic, with more weird twists- 'cause I can't bear the overused general stuff. ^_^;; (If you wanna ignore my random rambling, just scroll down to the chapter title, that's where the story begins)  
  
**Other notes:** I delayed this chapter a day because of school and stuff- it is probably a good thing that I did, too, because of some interesting reviews I got that made me think twice. I'd really like to thank those people for making me think about what I was doing. I may only be updating every day or two for the next while, depending on how this week and weekend go.  
  
**Quotation of the Day: **"Come on and hear, come on and hear, Alexander's Ragtime Band, Come on and hear, Come on and hear, It's the best band in the land. They can play a bugle call, Like you never heard before, So natural that you want to go to war, It's just the bestest band what am, Honey lamb! Come on along, Come on along, Let me take you by the hand, Up to the man, Up to the man, Who's the leader of the band, And if you want to hear, The Swanee River played in ragtime, Come on and hear, Come on and hear, Alexander's ragtime band. Oh ma honey, Oh ma honey, Better hurry and let's meander, Ain't you goin', ain't you goin, To the leader man, Ragged meter man? Come and listen, Come and listen, To a classical band what's peaches, Grand stand, brass band, Ain't you comin' along? " - _Alexander's ragtime band_ (_By **Iriving Berlin**_)  
  
**Responses to Reviews:**  
  
o.O;; 90 reviews! I'm honoured. Thanks to:

Big thanks to: Difinity, maladyrancor, Echo, Jenniyah, AnimeGoddess, Tigre Moonstorme, Bunnychan, Kaneda-Shotaro and Yami Tetsuo, InsaneBakura, Blue Lagoon Loon, phwee? yami hobo, Lucifers Sun, Bai, Jay Kamiya, Kitsune Hashiba, and r*a*d*i*a*n*y for reviewing yet *again* and for encouraging me onward. ^_^**  
  
****maladyrancor:** *Bow* Thank-you so much again for such incredibly kind words. I definitely wasn't trying to go for a throw-away pairing by any means- and I have updated as quickly as possible. ^^;; Hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as the rest of it so far.  
  
**Echo**: What can I say? I'm an evil eeevil person. ^_^;;  
  
**Jenniyah:** As for ancient spirit shtuff, you mean the Yamis? And like Kaiba's past from the tapestry thingie-mer-bobber and all that goodness? I may throw some of that in if I get around to it. So far there hasn't been any supernatural stuff, but I may add some. As you can see, at the very end of this chapter I go on to bring up Yugi... and I might just throw in some Yami stuff. I'm not sure how far I can go with it though, since I really know next to nothing about their ancient pasts- they stopped playing new episodes here right after the eppy during Kaiba's tournament (Battle City) where Joey duels with Mako Tsunami and won that fisherman card. -_-;; So I never found out the whole thing with Kaiba. All I know is Yami Yugi was pharaoh and Yami Bakura was a tomb robber... I don't even really know fully who Malik is... Sooo unless someone wants to send me a link to a site explaining it all in full depth with lots of info, or if someone wants to be kind enough to give me a detailed explanation, I may not get into the whole egyptian past thing. Besides that, it *has* been a bit overused. I'm trying to figure out some sort of a conflict to insert though.... ^^;;  
  
**r*a*d*i*a*n*y:** All I have to say is that you've made a few very good points. I analyzed what you said carefully, reread the chapter I just wrote and besides being infuriated at all my spelling errors and grammatical errors and the dumb repitition I used by mistake I noticed how right you are. Kaiba is a heartless bastard most of the time- and, yes, Joey is a lot more hot-headed. My original attempt, though, was to show character growth and development. Sure, they can be in character for the first couple of chapters, but I wanted them to develop and change so I could toy with them a bit. The only problem is maybe I rushed it a bit. The other big problem I have especially with making Kaiba that "damn-good-icy-tone-crazy-swirling-vortex-of-sadistic evil" person you think he should be (and that he is often in the show and shtuff) is that he would never be able to have a *normal* relationship with Jou. It'd basically either end up with one of those torture fanfictions where Kaiba rapes him (which isn't what I'm going for AT ALL), or you end up with them as enemies. The only other way to handle it would be to make Kaiba change over time and become softer toward Jou (which might make sense and was what I was going for at first, since he has already been portrayed in cannon as a character who would do basically anything for his little brother. He basically almost gets himself killed a bunch of times for Mokuba. If that isn't devotion, I don't know what is. So that settles the fact that Kaiba *can* be caring sometimes.) The other thing is that Kaiba could totally have been lying the whole time about liking Jou- or even more confusingly, he could like Jou, but be unable to, or have a tough time admitting it (in other words: inner-conflict.) The last situation which I deem possible is that Kaiba is just toally nuts-o and either has split personalities or should be sent to a mental institute- in which case you basically end up with a crazy Seto, or the rape fanfic which ends up with a broken, or insane Jou. I didn't really want to go for either of those, but I did try to redeem myself with this chapter, let's hope it worked. -_-;; If not, please give me some suggestions as how to make it work. o.O;;  
  
Uhm. Yeah. Lots of space was taken up with that one. Gomen. ^_^;;}  
**  
**This chapter is a bit weird. I realized how deep a hole I was digging myself into by making them progressively more and more OoC. You're gonna be smacking yourself over the head at the beginning with how OoC they are- but let's not forget, if Joey was in the situation, he probably *would* be totally confused. Do try and remember the fact that I'm maintaining only information released in the Dub, not the sub, so that could explain a few things. Anyway, do evaluate Kaiba carefully. Is he lying? Is he lying about lying? Is he lying about lying about lying about... **confuses self** I mean.. ah, whatever. Enjoy the chapter. Hopefully this is recieved well. If not, try to explain what I'm doing wrong and offer help. ^_^;;; And if you want to see something in particular (a certain character? or situation?) show up tell me. Want more action? More shounen-aiishness? Do you care much if they're OoC or would you prefer that they're more IC? It's all up to you guys, I suppose. I really am open to which way I go. I'm just happy to be writing this. ^^;; (Yeah, yeah, I'm such a suck-up, but it is totally true!)  
  
It's called "Fruit Juice Concentrate" because it's so.. uhh.. juicy with plotness and angst, and concentrate because it's so concentrated into such a short amount of text. Uhh yeah. -_-;; Okay, fine, let's see you find a good rationality to explain the chapter title dang nabit! ^_^;;; Gomen for the short chapter- but you wouldn't write much if you had as much homework as I do. **Evil laugh?** -_-;;**  
  
**  
**2.1 Fruit Juice Concentrate**

_My heart would be shattered like glass,  
I would ache from the endlessly growing pain   
I couldn't bare to look you in the eye anymore,  
Knowing if I did I would only be dishonest with myself._  
  
  
  
"I don't want to go too fast." I said to Kaiba, looking up at him. He lowered a hand to me calmly, and I grasped it, thank-ful for the touch. His hands were still cool and comforting- yet at the same time they sent a spark of magic through me, making me feel all tingly inside.

He raised me to my feet, and embraced me around the waist. I stared him in the eyes for a second- admiring those frosty sapphire depths for a second, then motioned him toward the bed, at which point he released me reluctantly, but followed eventually. I laid down on the bed next to him, and he looked at me with a slight smirk. I was very tempted to wipe that smirk off his lips- literally, with my own mouth, but decided against it for the moment. Kaiba and I had issues to discuss.

Even if our relationship only lasted that one night- I wouldn't remain unchanged. I would be marked by Kaiba- more than I already was. I couldn't just lie to my friends. Not that I could be open or honest with them about any of it either. Relationship? With Kaiba? Was such a thing possible? Then again, I never would have thought that I would end up with another guy- and Kaiba of all guys. Even if I liked another guy, like, say Tristan. Eew! Wait. No, not Tristan! That was too weird, he was my one of my best friends. Okay, but in the hypothetical situation that I wanted to be intimate with a guy, I wouldn't go telling my friends, at least, not right away. But Kaiba? Of all people? The chance was slim I was even going to be able to tell them. I mean, Kaiba had been my enemy for as long as I could remember.

The thought suddenly struck me. What if Kaiba had all that time been in love with me? Even though he had acted callous to me, what if that was his only way of expressing his affection? Was it possible that all along his deep love was disguised by hatred? Were those arguments and insults just so he could speak to me- did he sneak looks at me in school? If so, I had ever noticed anything other than him shooting me glares now and then. He must have been an excellent faker. If so- every time we had a brawl, was that just him trying to be close? Releasing his frustration at... at not being able to admit his true feeling to me?

I felt bad at that idea. I felt awful that he wouldn't come to me with his feeling; however, I knew in my heart that if he had told me I would have laughed and disbelieved him. Even if he had actually managed to convince me, I was sure that would only serve to cause me to insult him with several derogatory insults- blinded with disgust. Things had worked out so differently. Perhaps the way it had happened was for the better?

"Seto, when did you first... want me like this?" I asked curiously, hoping to confirm my suspicions. We were relaxing on the overly-luxurious bed, his arm around the back of my shoulders. For once in my life I felt like I really belonged- the only other time I felt such a thing was when I was around my friends. Speaking of which, I wondered what they would think if they knew how deep I was beginning to fall for Kaiba.

"I'm... not sure. You just grew on me." He seemed slightly uncomfortable, even though his face remained cold. I looked him seriously in the eyes and the traces of a smile brushed playfully across my face. I nodded silently.

"Like a fungus." He finished, smirking wryly. I glared at him, and whapped him in the head lightly, and he snickered slightly. Hm, who would have ever thought? The day when we could actually get along? A time when we would be able to play-fight! If only Yugi or Tristan could have seen my then- wouldn't they be surprised! I think I was stretching the meaning of the word "friendship" which Yugi always kind of wanted me to form with Kaiba. I'm sure that the entire thing was the last person any of them would have expected me to end up with. Hell, Kaiba was the last person I expected to end up with! I never expected him to have any feelings toward me other than hatred. I didn't even doubt him anymore- I knew he liked me well enough, he had proved it more than once. The question was if I loved him. I was debating it when he nudged me.

"Hmm?" I looked at him inquisitively. He scooted close toward me, so that I could feel the warmth of his body against mine, the fabric of his clothing rubbing against my bare skin. Then, in an instant he grabbed me- roughly. Holding down tightly on my arms like never before. He stared me in the eyes and smiled villainously.

"What're you doing?" I blinked at him, and tried to pull away, but he only held on tighter. What the hell? I struggled and yelled at him, but he didn't release his grip for even an instant. He began to lean in, but I pulled my head away stubbornly. I didn't know what he thought he was doing, but he was overpowering me. I began to fight back, trying to kick him away, but he rolled on top of me, pinning me below him. He looked into my eyes- those cold eyes of his glowing with a strange radiance of strength and ferocity. I narrowed my eyes at him, angrily. He wasn't going to take advantage of me! I raised my feet and hands at the same time, trying to push him off me, acting like a lever. It didn't work. He only held on tighter. I tried the next step- rolling over so that I was suddenly the one hovering above. He didn't seem the least bit concerned or angered though... he just kept staring at me with those cold blue eyes of his. Those eyes that bore into my soul.

"Naughty little mutt." He snickered. Well, there it was, the same old Kaiba I had known before. I wondered quietly if the whole comforting thing hadn't just been an act to lure me in... for some deeper reason. Why was he doing this? What was his motive? Was he just trying to torture me? To make me begin to fall for him- only to snatch that hope up and throw it away? He had planted the seeds in my head, and begun to sow them. So why, just then, did he snap back to his old ways? We struggled for a bit, but in the end he bullied me down so that we were both in a position of equal strength, and I released a low primitive growl at him. That only caused the sick nefarious smile to spread wider across his face- like he was winning. I wasn't about to let him win! After all! He was just a low-life! What? Hadn't I just been thinking how wonderful he was a matter of moments ago? What was wrong with him? Why was he doing it?

"I'm not a mutt!" I yelled angrily, seething with rage. He released my hand for a second, only to back-hand me across the face so hard that it stung. I held back the urge to cry again. The lack of emotional stability Kaiba had already caused me was tremendous; however, that was only brought back as a painful reminder with the slap. I wasn't going to be "his" no matter what he did. I didn't even care. He could glare at me with those eyes of his all he wanted- he could hit me as hard as he liked, but I wasn't about to let my pride and honour go to shame, no matter how much work he went to trying to degrade me in every way possible. I had almost fallen for it once, I wasn't about to fall for it again.

In a moment he had pulled me into a kiss so hard it was bruising to my lips- nothing like the kisses before, which had been soft and much like whipped cream to my mind. Instead the kiss was forceful, brutal, and damaging. He bit down on my lip, drawing blood, and grabbed my by the head, pulling me deeper into the painful struggle. I tried to pull back desperately, I struggled and fought with him, but it was to no avail. His brute strength outmatched mine, and I was falling victim to him as every second passed.

Finally he released me, a furiously smug grin plastered across his sick face as his sullen facial expression mocked me silently. A drop of blood had trickled down his chin and his eyes were creepier than I had ever seen them before. Some part of me was more frightened than it had ever been before by Kaiba- but another part of me was urged on. I knew there was a part of Kaiba somewhere that was caring and compassionate- it had surfaced earlier, and it came out whenever he was around Mokuba. All I had to do was to find a way to get it out of him.

"You sure look like one, you pathetic dog." He laughed after a moment, reaching a hand out to ruffle my hair- but instinctively I snatched it, throwing it away. I pulled myself away from him, averting his gaze, and jumped off the bed. I knew I couldn't run from him anymore. I knew I couldn't stop him either. Not with brute strength- he had the upper hand in that department, and not intelligence either. I know I'm not as stupid as some people think I am, but Kaiba has always been incredibly intelligent. There's only ever been one thing I've had that Kaiba hasn't- goodness. A soul. A heart. And a will strong enough to enforce what my heart was telling me! I wasn't going to let him boss me around, just because the brown-haired teen was a bit smarter or more powerful than me!

"You insensitive jerk! Do ya think I'm afraid of you? You're just a two-timing, no-good, low-life who thinks he can always get his own way! Well I ain't gonna stand for it anymore! You're going to have to learn a lesson, Kaiba!" I glowered at him, expecting some sort of immediate response. There wasn't one. Kaiba just sat on the bed looking at me like I was a moron.

"Don't be an idiot, Wheeler. Who the hell is going to teach me this "lesson"? A snivelling dog like you?" He threw back his head and laughed. I could feel the blood rushing to my face, as my skin was turning a furious red. I looked him in the eye when he stopped laughing, and he looked back at me, as if challenging me. Challenging me to... what? Some sort of a fight? A duel? A contest of wills? Who knew, with Kaiba it always seemed like just about anything was possible. Suddenly a grin that could only be described as demonic found it's way across his face.

"I never loved you at all." He said in a dead serious tone. I felt crushed. My entire world was spinning even more than it had been before, and with that I felt my legs growing weak again. My insides churned violently, and I gave a whine of protest against my constantly crumbling knees. I managed to somehow support myself, and kept standing for the time being, but I wasn't sure how long it would last. I could feel tears coming to my eyes already, but I tried not to cry. I couldn't let any weakness show around the blue-eyed devil.

"You... you bastard! How dare you- how dare you say that!' I answered him. He had to be lying! It had to have been a joke! He was lying to me! Lying to himself! Why would he waste all that time trying to convince me that he loved me only to tell me that he really hated me? To crush my spirit? To obliterate my soul completely? The bastard. I would get him for it, if it was the last thing I did! I couldn't hold the tears in any more, and ran out of the room, my eyes blurring suddenly. I wasn't going to let Kaiba see me cry. I would have my vengeance eventually- I needed time to form a plan anyway. I would leave Kaiba to his own misery. Or maybe something else. He didn't seem the least bit sad. He was mocking me the whole time. I couldn't even begin to put the intense loathing I had congealed in myself for him at that moment. I couldn't even begin to express the shattered feeling of him telling me he basically thought me better off dead. Everything was too intense, and just when things were beginning to make sense, all that stuff was thrown my way. Life had dealt me yet another bad set of cards. 

I ran out of Kaiba's, wiping tears out of my eyes, and sniffling like the pathetic dog that Kaiba had really turned me into. All that time he had spent trying to make me his "mutt"- but at that moment, I really was. He had done the worst possible thing a human can do to another. He had ripped my bloody heart from my chest, stolen it from it's untimely youth, so that he could claim it as his, and crush it into a fine powder. He didn't care. He didn't love me. He didn't want me. It was all a pack of lies. The thoughts cleaved my soul open into a gagging wound, and I felt a lump in my throat. He had manipulated me so perfectly- he had made me his like no other would ever be able to again, and then he had proceeded to throw me away like he didn't even care. He totally disregarded my feelings completely. I was nothing more than a mere toy to him. No, Kaiba wasn't human- he was truly a monster.

It didn't matter that I had forgotten my shirt back in Kaiba's mansion as I fled the premises. As I ran into the cold night I could feel an icy wind whipping at my bare chest, blowing my unruly hair around my face. I dried my eyes of tears, and continued to run home. The ground was still damp, even though the rain had finally ceased, but I didn't care how wet it was. When I ran through grass it dampened the bottom of my pants, and when the howling winds grew stronger, but I continued to run anyway. As I fled I nearly slipped a few times in the mud or on really wet patches of the path. I didn't care what was going to happen anymore, as long as I got what I wanted from Kaiba. I wanted revenge. More than anything, I wanted to find that part of Kaiba that I had seen surface more than once. I knew there was more to him than just that cold ruthless bastard everyone thought he was- I just had to find the way to control it. To control him. What a strange though. Contol Seto Kaiba? Mr. CEO? The owner of Kaiba Corp.? If I told anyone that they'd think I was crazy. Then again, if I told anyone what had just happened they'd think I was crazy anyway, so maybe I stood a chance. Or maybe I was just insane. Whatever the case was, it didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered except finding out the truth.

I ran my tongue over my injured lip, the blood was beginning to dry up. Why was it that every time Kaiba and I spent time together I ended up getting some sort of wound from him? Speaking of which, the gash on my shoulder was healing quite nicely. I had forgotten to thank the brown-haired boy for it. Maybe a couple of punches would remind him of it. But, no. I couldn't try and use force. I already knew he could overpower me. I had to be witty- even wittier than Seto Kaiba himself. I had to trap him in his own game. I had to turn the tables on him. And who knew better how to outwit someone in their own game than the game master himself? Yugi. If The King of Games himself couldn't help me, I wasn't sure who could. 


	8. Part II 2: Strawberries

**High in Calcium**

**Published:** 26th May 2003   
**Pairings:** Seto x Joey  
**Disclaimers: **Calcium is mine.. I mean.. no it isn't...o.O;; Whoops, I mean, Yu-Gi-Oh isn't. ^_^;;;  
**Archive?** What? Are you totally serious? Sure! Just tell me first, and go to the graveyard to see if you're still alive!  
**Summary:** Your usual Seto x Joey fanfic, with more weird twists- 'cause I can't bear the overused general stuff. ^_^;; (If you wanna ignore my random rambling, just scroll down to the chapter title, that's where the story begins)  
**  
A NOTE:** I deeply wish to apologize to anyone who came here and saw a big mess of notes and HTML. Somehow the file I uploaded got messed up, when I tried to change it from a different computer and reupload it. I guess I shall have to be more careful next time. Gomen! I'm very angry at FF.net right now. -_-;;; I've reposted this like.. seven times after making several changes.  
  
**Other notes:** Wow! 121 reviews! Gomen for the massively long wait. I got distracted with my other story.. Tainted Kisses, which is an RP / Story I'm co-writing with the fantastic Jantra. ^^  
  
**Contest Update:**  
  
**Neko-chan:** I finished your oekaki request prize for the contest which may be viewed at ^_^;;This caused partial delays for this Chapter (and the overall shortness) when combined with my upcoming Final Exams and working on _Tainted Kisses_. ^_^;; Enjoy! And it's viewable for anyone else, if you guys wish to do so.  
  
**Responses to Reviews:**  
  
o.O;; 121 reviews! I'm beyond flustered. I really couldn't have done this without TRI-Link, Jantra, and several other people urging me on, helping me when I had problems, or just being there for me. A big thanks to:

Mai, Blue Lagoon Loon, maladyrancor, AnimeGoddess, Draggy, Myaami, Icing Flower, InsaneBakura, Cynthia Chen, Yami Vixen and Vixen, Neko-Chan, phwee? yami hobo, Kaneda-Shotaro and Yami Tetsuo, Daughter of Death, Jay Kamiya, aku no hime, Jantra, Jou-pup, Celestial Magician, Chibi, Echo, YACUMO, Jenniyah, Kitsune Hashiba, Lady Geuna, Shadow Katana, and Difinity for reviewing.  
**  
****Difinity:** **blink blink** Wow! Thank-you so much for reviewing so many chapters of this, and for reviewing Tainted Kisses so quickly. You practically reviewed that last chapter the second it loaded... I was all like "o.O;; That was one FAST review!" How do you do it anyway? Arigatou for being such a dedicated reviewer. ^_^;;;  
**  
Neko-Chan:** Your Oekaki request has been finished. Enjoy! ^_^  
  
**Lady Geuna:** *Bow* Thank-you for the links, but shitenshi net seems to be a broken link.. at least, it doesn't load on my computer? And a big o.O;; @ the war of the roses thing. That's hilarity.  
  
**Jenniyah:** Wow! nice site you've got there. I sat there for a while lookin' at all the manga scans.. still not done even half of them. ^_^;;; It's very generous of you to spend so much time with other people to translate and scan all that manga!!!  
  
**YAMUCO:** You do *not* suck. Thanks for the kind words, and no, I definitely don't plan on any Jou rape in this fanficcie. Nor is there going to be much, if any Yugi x Jou or Yami x Jou... I doubt I'll even hint at it. -_-;; It is a bit weird.. though I think Tristan/Honda x Jou is weirder.  
  
**Jou-pup:** Seto Kaiba? Have a personality problem? Nooooo. ^_^;;; Of course he has a screwed up personality! That's the whole way he's displayed in the show- a ruthless bastard that only cares about Mokuba and himself... and then things change gradually... Sooo.. imagine what it'd be like if he was suddenly thrust into a situation where he had emotions for someone he thought he hated? He'd be pretty tormented- and act really weird... ^_^;; Hence we get what happened in this story.  
  
**Yami Vixen and Vixen: **Pull wings off butterflies? o.O;; You know that basically kills them... right? ^_^;;;; And, no, as I said earlier at the beginning of one of the chapters, iie, Kaiba isn't getting a POV. His POV is displayed in the poem at the beginning of each chapter- but not in any actual chapters. You'll have to wait until I finish this story and write another to bug me about doing a story from the POV of Seto, if you want one that badly. ^_^ I'm sure I'll do it if I have the time and other people think it is a good idea.  
  
**InsaneBakura:** Well, now that you've offended all Yogurt lovers... Might I mention another scary thing that TRI and I were discussing one day? All the weird spellings of Yogurt. Yohgurt... it goes on. I think there are several. Aside from that, "Yogurt" comes from the original "Yoghurt" which is a Turkish word, strangely enough. ^_^;;; Nothing better than being informed about something you hate, ne? **Evil laughter**  
  
**Icing Flower:** *Best* fic you've ever read? Uh. You've gotta be kidding me! **Blushes** I'm Superb? Talented? Wow... Thank-you so much.. **Bow**  
  
**Draggy:** I'm not saying this is any masterpiece- but I do hope this is better than most of the Seto Kaiba fics out there- 'cause I've read a lot of 'em, and the majority of them aren't really that good. I'm so glad you're enjoying the fanfic so far. Hope you continue to with the new chapters. ^_^  
  
**AnimeGoddess:** Did he mean it? Does he hate Jou? **Dun Dun Dun** Find out... in the next Episode of DRAGON BALL Z!!!!!!!!!!!!! I uhh.. mean... o.O;;; (That announcer guy in the DBZ dub is so dang annoying. Had to make fun of him. ^_^;;) Err, the next chapter of this story rather.. which is.. uhh.. this chapter.. ^_^;;;;; Enjoy!  
  
**Maladyrancor: **Arigatou again. Your comments mean so much to me. I'm so glad nothing sounds improbable or forced... and that you have no problem with ICness of characters. *Bow* I'm so glad you're okay with Kaiba as a character, and feel this brings the TV show up to an even higher level. Thank-you for all your insightful comments so far, and for taking the time to write them.  
  
  
This chapter has a lame excuse for a title- read the very last sentence or two and it explains itself. I had wanted to bring that aspect of the chapter in earlier, but I sort of forget until the last minute. Eh-heh... Oh well. At least the Poem-part fits the plot *really* well in this chapter. And by the way, it's a very short chapter, so gomen for that as well, but I've been busy... Gomen for the long period of time of waiting since I updated last as well.. -_-;; And, wow, 121 reviews.. Jeez. I still can't get over the fact that so many people reviewed this... **Bow** Your praise means so much, and I am equally glad for all criticism. I'm so glad people are honest when reviewing. It's better that you tell me that this sucks if it does, than lie and sugar-coat everything... ^_^ Thank-you all for being so honest and kind and helpful. I hope you enjoy this chapter... and hopefully I'll have time to do lots more, and good ones at that. ^_^**  
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**2.2 Strawberries**

_If another hurt you, I'd be beside you in an instant.  
Your face would still be just as handsome and fragile  
As the tears from your face dried on your paling skin  
And I would kiss them away- along with your fears._

  
"Hey, Joey, what happened to your face?" Tea asked the next day at school when I saw her. She was commenting on the big dark mark under my left eye. I had never told Tea about my dad- Yugi sort of guessed at what had happened, and I was pretty sure that Tristan had a sneaking suspicion. I knew it might break Tea's spirit if she knew what he did to me. I winced at the remembrance. The night before I had been home really late- and he was so angry. At least he didn't give it to me too bad. It really was my own fault- I should have known it was coming. I mean, I had come home so late... and I hadn't even phoned him or anything. After Kaiba had proceeded to snap what little sanity I had left, I was too tired and weary to care about what my father did.

"Nothin'." I muttered as she flittered about me trying to get a better look at my face. I opened my locker clumsily, and sloppily shoved a textbook into it. The book fell out, and I bent down to pick it up. Tea stood there the entire time curiously. I realized she wasn't going to give up any time soon because when I had stood back up she was still facing me.

"It isn't just nothing! Friends help each other, Joey. What happened?" Tea asked quietly, catching my hand, and gracefully swivelling my body so that I faced her. She looked at me with those big blue eyes of hers, but I tried to block her gaze. She was so naïve sometimes. Why couldn't she just let well enough alone? Sometimes she could be so nosey! Didn't she see I didn't want to tell her? Thinking fast I replied, knowing that if I didn't give her an answer she would keep badgering me endlessly.

"I got in a fight with Kaiba on the weekend, okay?" I humphed. I felt like crap inwardly for lying to her, but it was best not to get into the truth... especially not in the middle of a school hallway. To tell her the truth would probably crush her. Of course, it crushed Yugi when he figured it out, but he's always been a pretty strong little guy. Okay, it's not like I meant to be sexist or anything. I mean, I bet Mai wouldn't have been troubled too much with the information. But Tea? Who knew what she would do if she found out. It might destroy her to think that one of her friends was in such a situation. Tea was always a bit naïve, even if she had always been incredibly nice. It was like she in her own little world sometimes where nothing inconceivably awful could happen to anybody randomly. Anything bad was deserved. Yeah, well, I tell you, what did I do to deserve the situation I was in? Abusive strict father? Guy who I can't even tell whether he wants me... or wants me dead half the time? And my own brain a mess of confusion- and my heart trying to blaze through the whole situation. Ugh. I felt awful, and I bet I looked like it as well.

"Well, okay." She replied giving me a bit of a funny look. She let the subject drop- just like I had wanted it to. In fact, I hadn't wanted it to come up at all to begin with. I knew I couldn't avoid it forever, but for the time being I was fine with keeping it quiet. Tea had no respect for Kaiba. Only, I hadn't expected her to go tell the world about it. Unfortunately for me, she did.

It wasn't until mid day, near the end of the class before lunch that the rumours spread in whispers around my desk, taunting my ear- assaulting me with my own bitter lie about Kaiba attacking me. It was true that he had attacked me- however the mark on my face had not been derived by the brown haired teen's fist. Letting the truth unveil itself was far more troublesome, even though the boy I was slowly finding myself more and more attracted to take the fall seemed pretty brutal as well. Caught between a lie and a false promise I felt unnerved.

Naturally, the news had reached Tristan's ears via Tea before almost anyone else. The well-meaning girl had gossiped about it in gasps and hushed whispers- and soon the voices were surrounding me in polyphony. Chorusing the song of lies- humming the hymn of truths better left untold. My friends were all affected by the information- and I watched them, one by one, growing progressively furious. I was too weak and pathetic to get in their way- to tell the truth. I knew making up more lies to quell their anger would only lead to questioning of me- and possibly revealing of the truth. More lying would only make me feel worse; telling false truths would only cause more trouble... as if lying once already hadn't caused enough.

I couldn't stand to be near anyone- afraid they would see the lies in my eyes for what they were. Afraid the truth would come out and show itself. Afraid I would be taken away. Just afraid of the unknown, period. The expanse of time was punctuated with the ringing of a bell as I scuffled to my feet, slinging my bag over my shoulder, and hurrying out of the class to avoid as much human contact as I possibly could.

Tears began to form into my eyes as I felt the grass, wet with dissipating morning dew against my feet as I ran to a large, elderly, gnarled tree that sat sleepily on the school grounds. I didn't notice anyone around, but could care less, as I ran to the tree, collapsing at it's base, and sobbed against the tree trunk. It was so hard. Life was so hard. Kaiba- my father- the school work I could never understand- nobody wanting to help- and even being separated from most of my friends; either through their own busy schedules, or my fault due to isolation because I distanced myself every time I lied to them about my life. Oh god, why couldn't I just be honest? Why did I have to be brave, and never let my fears and worries show through? Instead they rested within my stomach, the aching gnawing at my insides like some monstrous beast.

I sobbed as the sun shone down on me, I sobbed as the wind rustled the soft and vividly green grasses that lingered below me, stretching their sturdy bodies up to the sun and open air. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I pulled my legs up against my chest, sliding my hands around my knees, and curling up tightly, leaning against the hard old tree trunk. And that's when I felt a force tugging me up. Brushing away my tears I looked wildly around- unable to see anyone. I quieted immediately. What ghostly force was this? That it could touch me, yet not be seen? Who could stay invisible yet be physical enough to reach out to me? Was my mind playing tricks on me? No! There it was again! My eyes spun wildly, and I caught a flash of skin- hands!

Suddenly they grasped onto my clothing, and began to slowly hoist me up. As I inclined my neck upward as far as it would go, I could see the leering form of Seto Kaiba- up in that tree, his coat trailing down behind him. I gave up trying to struggle the moment I realized he almost had me up completely. There was no use. He had already shown he was physically superior. He would only catch me, or torment me more if I showed weakness by attempting to flee.

"Kaiba..." I started- but he shushed me, putting a finger to his lips.

"Shut-up." He said, silencing me with a dazzling kiss. Emotions soared and raged a furious battle of angels and demons in my mind- darkness overwhelming light, and good conquering evil. Forces intertwining into a seeping mist as I felt his tongue against mine, ours mouths meshing in a furious motion. I grasped at his clothing, feeling the need to express the emotions I was feeling. When we finally broke the kiss we were both breathing heavily, and he wrapped both of his arms around me, embracing me and encircling me with those soft, icy hands of his. I didn't understand- but I didn't think I needed to understand what was going on in Kaiba's head. He, and he alone understood what was going on his mind at the time, and it had been up to him to sort it all out. Perhaps he finally had.

"Who touched you?" He said, referring to the bruise on my face, as he stroked my cheek softly- his caress like a shadow across my heart, causing beautiful shudders of both pleasure and awkward pain throughout my entire being. I shook my head, not wanting to tell him. I wondered if he knew the truth. I figured he must have assumed by then what was going on, just like so many of my friends. Kaiba was far from stupid. Surely he knew? I was aware that he knew of the injustices that mortal men could cause. Look at what Pegasus' evil had performed- or some of the other evil spirits that lurked vengefully- lusting after the Millennium Items. Only, I was too afraid to tell the truth.

Kaiba razed a brazen hand across my chin, turning it ever so slightly, lowering his face to my quickly drying tears- that felt like cool and silvery evaporation against my skin. His breath was ever so light against my cheeks, as he leaned in, placing butterfly kisses across where the tears had been- kissing them away until they were finally gone at last. My soul must have exploded right then- because I felt an epiphany of joy and love as lengthy hours or longing- years of angst and deprived sobbing were yanked away by his fairest touch, his smooth soft skin against mine own.

"It's okay... it doesn't matter anyway." Kaiba said softly; I guess he figured I would tell him when I felt like it. When I was comfortable with telling him. The other youth was more gentle than I had ever thought possible. I knew he was into pain and pleasure- but I didn't know he could make pleasure so kind and soft. Whatever had suddenly changed his attitude back into the caring person I had seen him transform into, I wasn't sure; however I did know that it couldn't be a bad thing if it had caused such miracles.

"Were you lying yesterday?" I whimpered, a pout stealing my upper-lip, a concerned frown stretching my face. I felt the wind caress my hair- but Seto's touch was lighter and more beautiful still. The brown haired boy drew his own face close to mine again for a moment, a smug grin spreading across his face, his eyes shifting from stormy clouded over emotion to a soft- shimmering sort of look... as though he might cry. Seto Kaiba? Cry? How unheard of. My brain repented the thought. Kaiba would never cry, as sure as my name was Joey Wheeler.

"Of course, pup." He closed his eyes momentarily, brushing a hand across them as though preventing the tears that had been forming there. Kaiba didn't want me to see him cry either- and he wasn't about to begin to. I knew that much. I drew him into a powerful kiss- the first time I had taken the initiative upon myself. And I could tell Kaiba didn't mind letting me having the control... for once. His mouth tasted sweet and melodic, like strawberries, and I knew I only wanted more.


	9. Part II 3: Natural Flavour

**High in Calcium**

**Published:** April 28th 2005  
**Pairings:** Seto x Joey  
**Disclaimers: **Calcium is mine.. I mean.. no it isn't...o.O;; Whoops, I mean, Yu-Gi-Oh isn't. ;;;  
**Archive?** What? Are you totally serious? Sure! Just tell me first, and go to the graveyard to see if you're still alive!  
**Summary:** Your usual Seto x Joey fanfic, with more weird twists- 'cause I can't bear the overused general stuff. ;; (If you wanna ignore my random rambling, just scroll down to the chapter title, that's where the story begins)

**Other notes:** Um. I'm still alive. Hi.

**Responses to Reviews:**

200 reviews.Ok. Well. I officially hate this fanfic now! I'm just going to sit in a corner and pout while you all read it. Ugh. So It's like this, I wrote the story and thought it was not bad when I wrote it, but as I wrote more and more, the plot started becoming stupider and stupider. So I lost interest. Now that I try and come back to it, since so many people have asked me to, it's gotten to the point where I'm totally out-of-character when I try to write it, and I never get anywhere. T.T

Today I shall be replying to comments backward.. because, um. I don't know how far back to go u.u;;

**mandapandabug: **thanks for giving me my 200th comment (and my 199th, and 198th.. etc.) it was a nice thought, albeit a little crazy. "this will remind you of all the people you have hurt by not updating this" I really hope I haven't hurt anyone. I don't mean to.. I mean... I wanted to make people happy by writing this- but it's just come out of my control. Gomen nasai.  
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:Glares holes into author:** yeah, um. about that... you'll see what happens. .;;  
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zombiedarkelf18**: ok. i'm updating now.  
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Kiharu-sama: **i know. -.- the chapter titles often make me very hungry ;;  
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solarsenshi: **I'm bowing. Arigatou! Lovely compliments.  
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ChibiSmiles: ** Arigatou!  
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Ragna01: **Um.. I'll go hide now... And cower in the closet alone -.-  
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YumiAyumi: **Arigatou! Updating right now.  
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Anime Crew: **Um. Yeah. It was Yogurt, that was figured out a while back. o.O  
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Tara.B Amy: **Arigatou! Yeah, I'm not such a huge Seto person. Personally I like the ditzy but cute characters, like Zell in FF8, or Jou, etc. So I'm not so good at Kaiba, hence I rarely ever write from Seto's perspective u.u;; "First, if you hate the story it's not possible. Second, you probably can't slip back into the old atmosphere all of the sudden." So true. -.-  
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angelical nightmare: **um, yeah. about that...  
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Lil'wystynyra: **yes, i do tend to fall off the face of the planet, only to return on saturdays, between 3:15-3:16 AM... when the moon is blue.  
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Siren of the Darknessflame: **It'll be explained, pathetically, but explained nonetheless.  
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Sei Kou Ki: **Ok. Updating  
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Gothic Angel: **Ok. ;;;;;  
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ChibiSerenity3: **Yeah. I abandoned it.  
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Spirit Rose: **Aww. Arigatou.  
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jj: **Um. Yeah. About the not-posting forever thingie...  
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KC: **Ok... updating .;;  
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Perpetually Annoyed: **Thanks tons for defending me. I'm glad someone knows how I feel -.-  
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johny-depp-luv: **Haha. I don't sit on the couch. I stopped watching TV 2 and a half years ago.  
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PuppyLover: **Um. Please don't swear at me... u.u  
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freewater: **yay! someone likes my recent-er stuff.  
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galenhiril: **here you go  
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BlueBolt: **Wow! Arigatou for all the compliments. I'm glad you liked it so much!  
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SOMEONE WHO LOVES THIS STORY: **Oh! No! A big ball of glub! ON MY HOUSE! Nuuuuu! u.u;; Suuuuu!  
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Sunshine Pie: **More, and then a sequel, eh? Hmm.. I'll consider it.   
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SilverWolfe: **Eep Ok. I can't stop cheering people. -.-

Uh.. Ok. That's as many comments as I'm going to respond to. Thanks to anyone else who I didn't mention. I'm not going to go any further back than that. O.O;;**  
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**2.3 Natural Flavour**

_I'd hold you so gently, though I've never been gentle a day in my life,  
I would hold your body close to mine; you're beautiful when you sleep-  
But I'd much rather see you yelling at me or arguing with me...  
Because at least I can understand all that. I want things to be organic._

You know that saying about karma and stuff? How when you do bad things it comes back at you and bites you in the ass? Yeah, well a lot of that kinda happened to me that day. The same fateful day that the brown-haired teen swept me up into his arms in that tree during the brief period of freedom from classes. There was a voice calling my name- and Kaiba drew me close. He whispered to me that we would meet again soon, then proceeded to heave me backward. I really hadn't expected that at all, but his overwhelming force and my lack of balance combined caused me to plummet to the ground like an angel with broken wings.

I had recognized the voice clearly as Yugi's. My friend was worried- of course. He hadn't really spoken to me since the "limo incident"- and even then it was only when I was trying to run away- when I ran off to the park. If I was in his position, I'd have probably been worried about me too. Especially with that rumour spreading around like a wildfire about Kaiba being responsible for my face. Oh crap! I forgot to tell Kaiba about that... I didn't even want to know what he'd say. It was the first excuse that slipped into my mind! What was I meant to say? Oh yeah, my daddy beat me up 'cause I was too busy making out with Kaiba on his bedroom floor to come home on time? Uh-huh. That'd go over well. Sure thing.

"Hey Yug. What's happening buddy?" I said imitating confidence, brushing myself off as I moved to my feet with a hop, a skip, and a jump, trying to forget the pain of the fall from the tree amongst other pains. I couldn't help but remember what Kaiba had done to me, in the back of my mind. He had hurt me- rejected me- told me he didn't care about me. But now he had done a total 180- an utter turn-about. It was so peculiar. It was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It was like Kaiba had split personalities... or maybe, he, just like me was having difficulty coping with the idea of liking me. How could I care for him? In that way? He was my enemy. He was Yugi's enemy, and Tea's enemy, and Tristan's enemy. He was all our enemy. And yet, there had to be some forgiveness. Even Yugi showed that- he tried to be friends with Kai-.. Seto on a number of occasions, right? Then again, friends and lovers are two very different extremes.

"Joey... is everything okay? All the other kids think you're going to get into a fight with Kaiba afterschool. Is this true?" His eyes were even bigger than Tea's, hearing him talking about Kaiba made me sigh with annoyance. Surely the whole school was in uproar now, expecting some kind of a fight. But was I ready? Ready to face Kaiba with the truth, that I was the cause of a vile lie being spread only to protect my shame? Was I ready to go up against Kaiba again? Was I willing to fight Kaiba? He was, after all the cause of all of my problems as of late. Or was I? Hadn't I brought some of it upon myself... it seemed as though, looking back, I had. Oh, how foolish I had been. How could I fight the one I... the one I... it was hard to say it. How could I fight the one I loved? A surge of questions rushed at me. Did I love him? He could be so kind, so gentle, so giving all at once, and then, in a flash that was gone- as though there was some other side to him, almost like split-personalities. I could remember a story we had read in English a long time ago I didn't pay much attention to, in which there were two dragons trapped inside a mountain range that were constantly fighting. It seemed as though there were two dragons inside of Kaiba, fighting each other, one surfacing only to be overtaken moments later by the other.

"I don't think so, Yug. You know how Tea can be with her exaggerations of things." I said, letting out a nervous laugh, hoping that my friend wouldn't catch my lies.

_(Let's hope I update this soon... so I don't get more death threats or letter bombs... .;; )_


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